Ophisternon

Ophisternon is a genus of swamp eels found in fresh and brackish waters in South and Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, Middle America and West Africa.^[3] Two species are blind cave-dwellers.^[4]

Ophisternon
Bengal eel (O. bengalense)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Synbranchiformes
Family:	Synbranchidae
Subfamily:	Synbranchinae
Genus:	Ophisternon McClelland, 1844
Type species
Ophisternon bengalensis McClelland, 1844[1]
Species
see text
Synonyms[2]
Anommatophasma Mees, 1962 Furmastix Whitley, 1951 Pluto Hubbs, 1938 Tetrabranchus Bleeker, 1851

Well-preserved fossil remains of an Ophisternon sp. are known from the early Pleistocene-aged Laguna Formation of the Philippines, representing the oldest known fossil record of this genus.^[5]

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:^[3][6]

• Ophisternon aenigmaticum D. E. Rosen & Greenwood, 1976 (Obscure swamp eel)
• Ophisternon afrum (Boulenger, 1909) (Guinea swamp eel)
• Ophisternon bengalense McClelland, 1844 (Bengal eel)
• Ophisternon candidum (Mees, 1962) (Blind cave eel)
• Ophisternon gutturale (J. Richardson, 1845) (Australian swamp eel)
• Ophisternon infernale (C. L. Hubbs, 1938) (Blind swamp eel)
• Ophisternon berlini (J. Arroyave, 2024) (Berlin's bloodworm eel) ^[6]