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Duckbilled Eel
Nessorhamphus ingolfianus (Schmidt, 1912)
All images: A 60cm Duckbilled Eel trawled during the NORFANZ expedition at a depth between the surface and 1200m south-east of Lord Howe Island, May 2003 (CSIRO H6038-18). Photo: R. McPhee © NORFANZ. View larger image.
Head and anterior part of body of the Duckbilled Eel. Photo: R. McPhee © NORFANZ. View larger image.
Head of the Duckbilled Eel. Note the projecting upper jaw. Photo: R. McPhee © NORFANZ. View larger image.
The Duckbilled Eel has a long slender body that lacks scales. It has a long snout with a spatulate (glossary) tip that extends well beyond the lower jaw. The dorsal and anal fins join with the caudal fin. The gill opening is a small slit in front of and below the pectoral fin base.
This species grows to about 60cm in length.
It is a rarely seen mesopelagic (glossary) species that occurs in temperate marine waters worldwide.
In Australia it is known from the Tasman Sea off New South Wales.
The Duckbilled Eel is classified in the family Derichthyidae. Its species name comes from the Danish ship Ingolf.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Robins, C.H. 1989. Derichthyidae in Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Part 9 Volume 1: Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University. Pp. 655.
- Smith, D.G. 1999. Derichthyidae. in Carpenter, K.E. & V.H. Niem (Eds). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome. Pp. iii-vi, 1398-2068.
