A basketwork eel, Synaphobranchus oregoni

Scientific name: Synaphobranchus oregoni
  • Updated
    10/05/22
  • Read time
    2 minutes
A basketwork eel, Synaphobranchus oregoni Click to enlarge image
A large basketwork eel, Synaphobranchus oregoni, around 2 m in length, at a depth of about 1350 m, approximately 100 km north-west of Barrow Island, Western Australia, June 2015. Image: Chevron Australia Pty Ltd
© Chevron Australia Pty Ltd

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Synaphobranchus
    Species
    oregoni
A basketwork eel, Synaphobranchus oregoni
A large basketwork eel, Synaphobranchus oregoni, around 2 m in length, at a depth of about 1350 m, approximately 100 km north-west of Barrow Island, Western Australia, June 2015. Image: Chevron Australia Pty Ltd
© Chevron Australia Pty Ltd

A large basketwork eel, around 2 m in length, at a depth of about 1350 m, approximately 100 km north-west of Barrow Island, Western Australia, June 2015.

Notes

Thank you to Aaron Buckett for supplying the image and to John Pogonoski for identifying it.

Eel expert, John Pogonoski from CSIRO stated; "The dorsal fin origin appears to be approximately opposite the anus, which rules out Synaphobranchus brevidorsalis as it has the dorsal fin origin well behind the anus. Given that I can’t see the scale pattern, which is a key identification feature for species in this genus, my best guess based on the dorsal fin origin being approximately opposite the anus would be Synaphobranchus affinis or S. oregoni, both of which have been recorded from the region. If the length is greater than 1m, I would be leaning towards S. oregoni, but difficult to be certain as there are still taxonomic problems with this genus.