Ophidion barbatum

For other uses, see Snake blenny.

Ophidion barbatum, the snake blenny, is a fish species in the family Ophidiidae. It is widespread in the eastern Atlantic from southern England to Senegal in West Africa, and the northern Mediterranean. It is a marine subtropical demersal fish, up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long.^[2]

Ophidion barbatum
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Ophidiiformes
Family:	Ophidiidae
Genus:	Ophidion
Species:	O. barbatum
Binomial name
Ophidion barbatum Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Ophidion congrus, (Gronow ex Gray, 1854) Ophidion maculatum, (Rafinesque, 1810)

Parasites

As most fish, the Snake blenny harbours a variety of parasites. One of them is the diclidophorid monogenean Flexophora ophidii. The species was described in 1962 by Maria Prost and Louis Euzet from the coasts of France in the Mediterranean Sea ^[3] and found 58 years later off Algeria.^[4]