Leiuranus semicinctus

(Lay & Bennett, 1839) · species

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Animalia/Chordata/Anguilliformes/Ophichthidae/Leiuranus

At a glance

Occurrence records1 532

Data sources10

Biological traits7

DNA specimens16

eDNA detections16

Sources10 archives

Databases and archives Leiuranus semicinctus's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility659 records↗

OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System873 records↗

ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI16 eDNA detections↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics16 specimens↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗

Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗

GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗

On this page5 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements1 literature sources7 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF · OBIS1 532 records

Environmental DNA1 datasets · 6 countries16 detections

DNA & barcodingBOLD16 specimens

01Narrative

The saddled snake-eel (Leiuranus semicinctus, also known commonly as the halfbanded snake-eel, the banded snake eel, or the culverinCommon names of Leiuranus semicinctus at www.fishbase.org.) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels).Leiuranus semicinctus at www.fishbase.org. It was described by George Tradescant Lay and Edward Turner Bennett in 1839, originally under the genus Ophisurus.Lay, G. T. and E. T. Bennett, 1839 [ref. 2730] Fishes. Pp. 41-75, Pls. 15-23. In: F.W. Bechey (ed.) The zoology of Captain Beechey's voyage, comp. from the collections ... to the Pacific and Behring's Straits... in 1825-28. H. G. Bohn, London. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific and southeastern Atlantic Ocean, including East and South Africa, the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesan Islands, the Mangaréva islands, Japan, and Australia. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to, most often around 0 to, and inhabits lagoons and reefs, in which it forms burrows in beds of seagrass and sandy areas. Males can reach a maximum total length of 66 cm. The saddled snake-eel's diet consists of fish, crabs, prawns, and worms including Ptychodera.Food items reported for Leiuranus semicinctus at www.fishbase.org. Males and females rise to the surface of the water during spawning.Reproduction of Leiuranus semicinctus at www.fishbase.org.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesFishBase

Size & morphology1

Body length66 cm

Habitat & environment3

Habitat brackishyes

Habitat saltwateryes

Habitat zonereef-associated

Other traits3

Depth max10 m

Depth min0 m

Vulnerability46.4

05DNA & barcoding16 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Leiuranus semicinctus has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens16

BINs3

Marker genes1

eDNA detections16

Countries6

The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen

COI-5P655 bp consensus16 specimens

ACGT

▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies

Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 88% of positions are identical in every specimen.

Where individuals differ — all 81 variable positions, in barcode order

31Avariable

37Avariable

40Cvariable

55Amostly conserved

67Cvariable

85Gvariable

88Tvariable

92Cvariable

100Cvariable

103Cmostly conserved

112Tvariable

163Avariable

169Tvariable

208Avariable

211Tvariable

217Avariable

235Avariable

238Amostly conserved

265Cvariable

268Cvariable

271Cvariable

274Avariable

277Cmostly conserved

280Gvariable

283Tvariable

286Gvariable

295Amostly conserved

298Cvariable

301Avariable

307Amostly conserved

313Avariable

316Avariable

319Avariable

322Avariable

325Amostly conserved

331Cmostly conserved

334Avariable

340Gmostly conserved

343Gvariable

346Gvariable

349Cvariable

356Tvariable

358Gvariable

394Cmostly conserved

400Cvariable

409Cmostly conserved

415Cvariable

418Avariable

421Cvariable

427Gvariable

439Cvariable

445Cvariable

460Cvariable

469Cvariable

478Cvariable

481Gvariable

493Cvariable

496Avariable

497Cmostly conserved

499Avariable

502Cvariable

505Tmostly conserved

508Avariable

514Cvariable

535Amostly conserved

538Cmostly conserved

547Cvariable

556Avariable

562Amostly conserved

586Cvariable

610Tvariable

616Gmostly conserved

619Tmostly conserved

622Amostly conserved

628Avariable

629Gmostly conserved

630Amostly conserved

634Amostly conserved

640Cvariable

649Cmostly conserved

655Tvariable

CCTTTACCTAGTATTTGGTGCCTGAGCCGGAATAGTAGGCACCGCTTTAAGCCTACTTATTCGAGCCGAACTTAGCCAACCCGGGGCTCT …

Variant network

Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.

Diversity (π)5.2%

Haplotypes9

BINs3

Most divergent pair8.9%

OtherOceania

Closest relatives by DNA barcode

The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.

Pisodonophis borosame family12.5%Pillaia indicasame order12.8%Ophichthus puncticepssame family13.1%Callechelys muraenasame family13.2%Gordiichthys randallisame family13.3%

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

★COI-5P

animal barcode

07Deep time~21.9 Ma lineage

How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.

At a glance

DNA clock origin21.9 Ma TimeTree

When this lineage existed

How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.

DNA clock origin

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type1 532 records

Wild obs. + sensor173

Museum / vouchered1 349

Other10

Origin

Native43

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO1 860 km²

Depth

0–200 m sunlit241

200–1000 m twilight0

1–4 km midnight0

>4 km abyssal0

median 0.9 m · max 152.5 m · 241 records with depth

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy82% within 1 km

≤100 m 29≤1 km 46≤10 km 5>10 km 11

91 georeferenced · 82 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor173

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy33% within 1 km

≤100 m 37≤1 km 60≤10 km 151>10 km 47

295 georeferenced · 1 054 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 349

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions15 of 33 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
CASlocation not on record	140
Washington, US	87
Sydney, AU	61
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record	42
Chicago, US	32
UWFClocation not on record	30
Toronto, CA	22
Paris, FR	16
Western Australian Museumlocation not on record	11
Los Angeles, US	10
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record	10
Natick, US	7
University of California San Diegolocation not on record	7
Auckland, NZ	7
Kagoshima University Museumlocation not on record	6
Cambridge, US	6
Wuzhou, CN	5
	4
New Haven, US	4
FishBaselocation not on record	4
Honolulu, US	4
Museums Victorialocation not on record	4
Frankfurt am Main	4
Smithsonianlocation not on record	3
Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record	2
Ann Arbor, US	2
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record	2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record	1
ASUlocation not on record	1
Planes's Lablocation not on record	1
University of Alabamalocation not on record	1
SEAOBISlocation not on record	1
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturellelocation not on record	1

33 institutions · 538 of 1 349 vouchered records shown · 9 without an institution code

09Environmental DNA16 detections

Where the DNA of Leiuranus semicinctus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.

Signal

Detections DNA found16

Studies independent surveys1

Countries6

Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections

Where its DNA was found

0 of 16 detections have coordinates

Open the map6 countries0

How strong is each trace?

DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.

Modelled climatemodelled

−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C

Temperature median25.9 °C 23.6–27.2

Seasonal swing summer↔winter2.20 °C

Max temp (day)26.5 °C 24.3–28.2

Min temp (night)25.2 °C 22.5–26.4

Precipitation148 mm/mo 92.3–331

Air humidity62.8 % 61.0–70.1

Vapour deficit1,227 Pa 988–1,343

Cloud cover29.2 % 17.8–39.8

CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 15 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche

How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.

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Leiuranus semicinctus

At a glance

Sources10 archives

Size & morphology1

Habitat & environment3

Other traits3

At a glance

At a glance

When this lineage existed

Record type1 532 records

Origin

Range

Depth

Wildobservation + sensor

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Wildobservation + sensor

Holding institutions15 of 33 geolocated

Signal

Where its DNA was found

How strong is each trace?

Modelled climatemodelled

Record type1 532 records