Abstract
The food sources of the leptocephali of the teleostean superorder Elopomorpha have been controversial, yet observations on the leptocephali of the worm eels, Myrophis spp. (family Ophichthidae) collected in the northern Gulf of Mexico indicate active, not passive, feeding. Leptocephali had protists in their alimentary canals. Estimates of the physiological energetics of worm eels indicate that large aloricate protozoa including ciliates could provide substantial energy to these leptocephali toward the end of the premetamorphic and metamorphic stages, given the low energy requirements of metamorphosing leptocephali. Global ocean warming will likely force a shift in oceanic food webs; a shift away from large protozoa toward smaller protists is possible. Such a disruption of the oceanic food webs could further compromise the survival of leptocephali.
Highlights
The snake and worm eels, Ophichthidae, are the most diverse family of the true eels, Anguilliformes (McCosker, 1997), inhabiting coastal areas of tropical and warm temperate oceans
Genera of the subfamilies Ophichthinae and Myrophinae live in the Pacific, eastern and western Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and possibly in the Mediterranean Sea, but the genus Myrophis has not been reported in the eastern Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean (Hureau and Monod, 1973)
Seven of the nine leptocephali examined were identified as the leptocephali of the speckled worm eel; two leptocephali were unidentifiable to species level, because of deviations in meristic counts from those given in Leiby (1989)
Summary
The snake and worm eels, Ophichthidae, are the most diverse family of the true eels, Anguilliformes (McCosker, 1997), inhabiting coastal areas of tropical and warm temperate oceans. Genera of the subfamilies Ophichthinae and Myrophinae live in the Pacific, eastern and western Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and possibly in the Mediterranean Sea, but the genus Myrophis has not been reported in the eastern Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean (Hureau and Monod, 1973). In the western North Atlantic, 340 J.J. GOVONI the ophichthids spawn over outer continental shelves or near continental shelf breaks (J.J. Govoni, unpublished observations of egg distributions). Metamorphosing leptocephali of the ophichthids are found near shore (Harnden et al, 1999; Miller and Tsukamoto, 2004)
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