Reddish-headed ambush eel that lies buried in sand with only the face showing.
A snake eel reaching about a metre, with the forward-set eyes of Brachysomophis — placed near the snout tip rather than back along the head — and a long, narrow head that is usually reddish to orange-brown and mottled with white and dark blotches. Colour is the practical separation from the crocodile snake eel Brachysomophis crocodilinus, which is broader-headed and runs to brown, olive and grey, though both are variable and neither colour is diagnostic on its own. The eye position separates either of them from Ophichthus bonaparti, whose eyes sit well back and whose face is yellow with dark spots.
Lies buried with only the head exposed, sometimes rearing the front of the body clear of the sand in a shallow S when it is alert, and takes fish and crustaceans by striking upward. The tail is hardened to a point and the animal reverses into the sediment with it. Feeding is mostly nocturnal; by day the head is usually still and the mouth working slowly.
Recorded from about 3 to 30 m on sand and silt. It is the scarcer of the two common Brachysomophis on most muck sites and tends to sit deeper on a slope. Exposed heads are frequently occupied by small shrimps and gobies, which is a photograph in its own right. As with the rest of the family, disturbed sediment near the head ends the encounter, and the jaws are best kept at a distance.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
