Banded Snake Eel

Leiuranus semicinctus is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels). It was described by George Tradescant Lay and Edward Turner Bennett in 1839, originally under the genus Ophisurus.

Description

Males can reach a maximum total length of 66 centimetres (2.17 ft). Body is distinctly banded white to yellowish with 25-30 black saddles along the back and sides.

Distribution

It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific and southeastern Atlantic Ocean, including East and South Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesan Islands, the Mangaréva islands, Japan, and Australia.

Habitat

It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 70 metres (0 to 230 ft), most often around 0 to 10 metres (0 to 33 ft), and inhabits lagoons and reefs, in which it forms burrows in beds of seagrass and sandy areas. The Saddled snake-eel's diet consists of fish, crabs, prawns, and worms including Ptychodera. Males and females rise to the surface of the water during spawning.