tiger snake eel
Myrichthys maculosus · Ophichthidae · predator
Sand and shallow-reef eel, cream-coloured with black spots. It lives buried, is more common at night, and has commercial use in fishing and in the aquarium fish trade.
Also called: enguia-tigre, enguia, tiger snake eel
- maximum
- 100 cm
- depth
- 0–262 m
the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
Reading the weather across 3 global models and 31 simulations…
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hour by hour
tap or drag on the chart to read each hour · on a keyboard, arrow keyssee hour-by-hour table
why this index at —?
choose the day
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the tiger snake eel
who is the tiger snake eel
The tiger eel is a marine eel of the family Ophichthidae, with a long, cylindrical body. It lives on sandy bottoms of shallow reefs and lagoons, where it spends much of its time buried. In Latin America it occurs in Panama and Peru; elsewhere it lives in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to the central Pacific. When hunting prey, it sometimes becomes almost fully exposed. It grows to 100 cm, and the common size is 50 cm. It feeds on small fish and crustaceans. It has commercial use in fishing and in the aquarium fish trade.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the tiger snake eel.
fun facts
- At night, it may gather in large numbers under a light.
- It usually stays buried in the sand, but sometimes fully exposes itself while hunting prey.
identification
Long, cylindrical, eel-like body. The background colour is pale cream, with large and small black spots separated by narrower white bands, in a pattern that varies from one specimen to another. Juveniles have black saddle-shaped bands. As the pattern changes a lot, the best sign is the pale body with black spots, which in juveniles are arranged in bands.
where found
In Latin America, it occurs in Panama and Peru, on sand of shallow reefs and lagoons. Elsewhere it lives in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to the central Pacific.
Habitat: Sandy bottoms of shallow reefs, lagoons and outer reefs, where it lives buried, from the shallows down to 262 m.
when to fish
best time of day
Nighttime. It is most common at night, when it may gather in large numbers under a light.
rules for the tiger snake eel
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
It has no venom or spines, but it bites when handled. Remove the hook with pliers and release it without putting your hand into the sand where it hides.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00093, b = 2.99; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
- scientific FishBase: Myrichthys maculosus (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Myrichthys maculosusNames by country and language.
where each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: