Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes
(Eels and morays) > Chlopsidae
Etymology: Kaupichthys: Because of Johann Jakob Kaup, 1827; author of "Zoologische Monographien", ichthyologist + Greek, ichthys = fish.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; reef-associated. Tropical
Western Atlantic: Texas, USA and the Bahamas to the Antilles (Ref. 26340) and northern South America. Northwestern Gulf of Mexico to Caribbean (Ref. 26938).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 16.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251)
Morphology | Morphometrics
Moderately slender eel, with pale band around head behind eye (Ref. 26938).
A benthic and solitary species (Ref. 26340) occurring in and around coral reefs. Sometimes lives in tubular sponges, and suggested that this is its primary habitat (Ref. 26938).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 119314)
CITES (Ref. 115941)
Threat to humans
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningSpawning aggregationFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 25.5 - 28.2, mean 27.4 (based on 635 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5156 [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
): 3.5 ±0.5 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 69278
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (10 of 100) .