Tiger Snake Eel in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

The tiger snake eel has a long, cylindrical body that tapers towards the tail. It is cream-coloured with large black oval spots in a giraffe-like pattern, and its throat and chin are spotted too, a key to telling it apart. It has no scales. The head is conical with a short, overhanging snout, and the tail ends in a blunt, hard tip without a fin, making up more than half of its length.

• Hidden when resting. When inactive, it buries itself completely in the sand.
• Hunting. At times it can be seen in daylight searching for prey under rocks and in crevices over rocky bottoms.
• Little known. Its diet, growth, lifespan and breeding are poorly studied.

Tiger snake eels live in the tropical eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to Peru, including the Galápagos Islands. They live on the bottom, in burrows in sand and mud, from shallow water to about 60 metres, and move over nearby rocky ground to hunt. The species is of no commercial interest to fisheries.

Guide sighting records list one site: Devil's Crown, a snorkelling site off Floreana, rated Rare. Watch the sandy patches and the edges of rocks for a spotted body moving along the bottom.

The guide records list the tiger snake eel at Devil's Crown in every month. In the next twelve months, 42 departures stop at the site.

No. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern because of its wide distribution in the eastern Pacific, the lack of known threats and no observed decline. In the Galápagos Marine Reserve, park rules ask visitors to keep at least 2 metres (6 feet) from wildlife.

1. Panicking at a "sea snake". It is an eel, and FishBase lists it as harmless.
2. Poking into the sand or crevices. Keep your hands to yourself.
3. Counting on a sighting. The one site in the guide records is rated Rare.