Encheliophis boraborensis, Pinhead pearlfish

Encheliophis boraborensis (Kaup, 1856)

Pinhead pearlfish
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Encheliophis boraborensis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Encheliophis boraborensis (Pinhead pearlfish)
Encheliophis boraborensis
Picture by Rives, C./Parmentier, E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Ophidiiformes (Cusk eels) > Carapidae (Pearlfishes) > Carapinae
Etymology: Encheliophis: Greek, enchelys, = eel + Greek, ophis = serpent (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Kaup.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 1 - 150 m (Ref. 34024). Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Mauritius to the Society Islands, north to Taiwan and the Yaeyama Islands; including Mariana and Caroline islands.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4104)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 31 - 42; Anal soft rays: 45 - 57; Vertebrae: 119 - 126. Eel-like, moderate to shallow body depth; maxilla free and movable; cardiform teeth present; branchiostegal membranes partly or completely united; swim bladder with thin terminal membrane or bulb; lacking enlarged dentary or premaxillary fangs, dentary diastema, pelvic fins, and swim bladder rocker bone (Ref. 34024). Pectoral fins small, less than 29% head length; body thick, robust and highly pigmented (Ref. 34024).
Body shape (shape guide): eel-like; Cross section: oval.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Uncommon species (Ref. 34024). Lives within holothurians (e.g. Thelenota ananas and Bohadschia argus) (Ref. 1602).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins, 1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 34024)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 15 August 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Spawning aggregations
Eggs
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Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
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FAO areas
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
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Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
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References
References

Tools

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5078 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00102 (0.00046 - 0.00225), b=3.06 (2.88 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		3.4   ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low vulnerability (16 of 100). 🛈
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 167 [96, 289] mg/100g; Iron = 1.12 [0.67, 1.76] mg/100g; Protein = 16.6 [14.1, 18.8] %; Omega3 = 0.203 [0.109, 0.371] g/100g; Selenium = 67 [35, 137] μg/100g; VitaminA = 24.9 [8.9, 64.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.2 [0.9, 1.7] mg/100g (wet weight);