Aplatophis chauliodus Böhlke, 1956

Del Moral-Flores, Luis Fernando, Wakida-Kusunoki, Armando T., Ramos-Hernández, Rafael & George-Zamora, Arturo, 2024, First records of two species of snake eels, Aplatophis chauliodus and Ophichthus hyposagmatus (Actinopterygii: Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae), from Mexico, Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 54, pp. 103-108 : 103-108

Aplatophis chauliodus Böhlke, 1956

English common name: fangtooth snake eel Spanish common name: Culebra colmilluda Fig. 1 ; Table 1

Aplatophis chauliodus Böhlke, 1956. — Böhlke (1956): 3 (Type locality: Mayagüez pier, Puerto Rico).

Material examined.

CIFI- 2391 , 1 specimen (499 mm TL); ca. 8.5 km to the North of Barra de Sontecomapan, Catemaco , Veracruz, Mexico; 18 ° 37 ′ 58 ′′ N, 094 ° 58 ′ 38 ′′ W (Fig. 2 ); 15 Sep. 2023; Armando Campos Pérez leg.

Description.

Morphometric data presented in Table 1. Body elongated, cylindrical, without scales. Head length 10.6 % of TL, its dorsal margin concave towards snout region; mouth large, with opening angle> 90 degrees; tongue black and fleshy; lower jaw length 40.6 % of HL; both jaws thin and elongated, bearing large canines; lower jaw with three anterior teeth; upper jaw with four on each side, vomer with one tooth, maxillary teeth in two rows. Snout short and pointed, length 11.7 % of HL. Eyes small with diameter 2.9 % of HL. Nostrils together, with anterior one tubular, situated in front and below eyes; posterior one elliptical. Trunk large and robust, length 37.5 % of TL, with its tail rigid, length 47.8 % of TL. Pectoral fin small, length 14.8 % of HL, slightly larger than gill slit. Cephalic pores: preoperculomandibular 6 + 2, infraorbital 4 + 2, supraorbital 1 + 2. Total vertebrae 108, predorsal vertebrae 15, preanal vertebrae 54.

Coloration (fresh).

Mottled whitish brown, with stronger tonality in dorsal and cephalic region, while more whitish in ventral region. Oral cavity, tongue, and lower jaw dark. In distal portion edges of dorsal and anal fins black.

Genus Ophichthus Ahl, 1789

Figures

Figure 1. Aplatophis chauliodus (CIFI- 2391, 499 mm TL) collected off the coasts of Mexico. (A) Freshly caught specimen. (B) A close-up of the cephalic region. (C) X-ray of the entire specimen.

Figure 2. Map showing the distribution in previous records (circles) in the western Atlantic and new record (triangle) of Aplatophis chauliodus in Mexico.