Thin snake eel

The thin snake eel^[1] (Ophichthus apachus) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae.^[2] It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998.^[3] It is a marine, tropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Mexico and Colombia.^[2][4] It is known from two specimens observed dwelling in sand at a depth range of 0 to 8 m (0 to 26 ft). The maximum length recorded was 23.1 cm (9.1 in), albeit on an immature specimen.^[2]

Thin snake eel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Ophichthidae
Genus:	Ophichthus
Species:	O. apachus
Binomial name
Ophichthus apachus J. E. McCosker & Rosenblatt, 1998

The species epithet apachus, meaning "without thickness" in Greek, refers to the eel's thin frame.^[2] Due to the extremely minimal number of known specimens, and insufficient statistical data derived from them, the IUCN Redlist currently lists the thin snake eel as Data Deficient.^[4]