Fish of the Echelus genus of the Ophichthinae subfamily of the Ophichthidae (snake eels) family of the Congroidei suborder of the Anguilliformes (eels) order of the Elopomorpha superorder.
(Painted eel. Photo by © Gianni Neto. www.giannineto.com / naturamediterraneo.com)
Painted eel (Echelus myrus) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It occurs at the depth of 3-550 meters. It digs shallow burrows in the muddy, argillaceous and sandy bottom and hides there. It often enters the lower part of the limans and coastal lagoons. The maximum recorded length is 100 cm. Specimens up to 60 cm long are more common. It feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and fish.
(Painted eel. Photo by © greekwildlife.gr)
It is a permanent rare inhabitant of the southern part of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of painted eel (Echelus myrus) in other languages are as follows:
Ngjala qullamane (Albanian), Στικτομούγγρι (Stiktomungri) (Greek), Congrio pintado (Spanish), Miro (Italian), Stumpfnasen-Schlangenaal (German), Обыкновенный эхел (Obyknovenny ehel) (Russian), Ugor glavan, Zmija glavatica (Serbian, Croatian), Serpenton miro (French), Hadař evropský (Czech).