Photos by Adriaan Johnson	Serpent eel Ophisurus serpens. Finally another sighting of this animal! Monty Guest has seen one at the barge at Long Beach, but although SURG members searched there on several occasions could not find it. Now we know there is still at least one individual at Long Beach. Serpent eels are well-named, in that they are slender, but can grow up to 2.5m in length! Although slender, it is a powerful eel, and I think Adriaan can be happy it was but a small one! Serpent eels prefer sandy or muddy areas and are common in estuaries, but also occur down to at least 300m, feeding on crustaceans and small fish. Most are seen like Adriaan did, with only the head sticking out, waiting in ambush before striking quickly. It is an unusual sight, but it does ocurr in the area, ranging from the eastern Atlantic around the Cape into Indo-West Pacific.
References: Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986. Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa, PC Heemsta and E Heemstra, 2004.
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