Ophichthus melope is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).Ophichthus melope at www.fishbase.org. It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998.McCosker, J. E. and R. H. Rosenblatt, 1998 (18 Dec.) [ref. 23645] A revision of the eastern Pacific snake-eel genus Ophichthus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) with the description of six new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences v. 50 (no. 19): 397-432. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Colombia and Costa Rica.Ophichthus melope at the IUCN redlist. It dwells at a depth range of . Males can reach a maximum total length of .
The species epithet "melope" means "black cavity" in Greek, and is treated as a noun in apposition. It refers to the rings surrounding the pores. Due to a lack of known threats and observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists O. melope as Least Concern.
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