Highfin snake eel

The highfin snake eel (Ophichthus altipennis, also known as the blackfin snake eel or the black-finned snake eel,^[3] is an eel in the family Ophichthidae.^[4] It was described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, originally under the genus Microdonophis.^[5] It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern Indian Ocean and northwestern and western central Pacific Ocean, including Australia, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 40 m (0 to 131 ft),^[1] and forms burrows in soft inshore sand sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 103 cm (41 in).^[4]

Highfin snake eel
O. altipennis burrowed in the sand (Komodo, Indonesia)
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Ophichthidae
Genus:	Ophichthus
Species:	O. altipennis
Binomial name
Ophichthus altipennis (Kaup, 1856)
Synonyms[2]
Microdonophis altipennis Kaup, 1856 Ophichthus altipinnis (Kaup, 1856) Ophichthys melanochir Bleeker, 1864 Ophichthus melanochir (Bleeker, 1864) Pisoodonophis zophistius Jordan & Snyder, 1901 Pisodonophis zophistius Jordan & Snyder, 1901

Due to its wide distribution in the Pacific and lack of known threats, the IUCN redlist currently lists the highfin snake eel as "Least Concern".^[1]