Abstract

AROCA, Ana Karina; TAVERA, José  and  ACERO P, Arturo. First South American record of the Pacific mud eel, Pythonichthys asodes (Angulliformes: Heterenchelyidae). Caldasia [online]. 2018, vol.40, n.2, pp.394-398. ISSN 0366-5232.  https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v40n2.71673.

The family Heterenchelyidae groups the so-called mud eels, highly modified fishes that live buried. The Pacific mud eel Pythonichthys asodes, the only Pacific member of its family, is characterized for having a head-trunk length 22-27 % of total length. The species was described from on the basis of 23 individuals collected in the Gulf of Panamá. It was later reported from for the northern Central American waters (El Salvador and Costa Rica) as well as from the central Sinaloa coast in Mexico. Therefore, this is the first report from the South American (Colombia) coast, based on five specimens collected in Bahía Málaga.

Keywords : Ichthyofauna; mud eel; soft bottoms; South America; Malaga Bay.

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