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. Two species are blind cave-dwellers.Romero, A., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes.
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.
Species There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:
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)
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