Ophisternon
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| Ophisternon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bengal eel (O. bengalense) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Synbranchiformes |
| Family: | Synbranchidae |
| Subfamily: | Synbranchinae |
| Genus: | Ophisternon McClelland, 1844 |
| Type species | |
| Ophisternon bengalensis McClelland, 1844[1] | |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
Ophisternon is a genus of swamp eels found in fresh and brackish waters in South and Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, Middle America and West Africa.[3] Two species are blind cave-dwellers.[4]
Well-preserved fossil remains of an Ophisternon sp. are known from the early Pleistocene-aged Laguna Formation of the Philippines, representing the oldest known fossil record of this genus.[5]
