---
title: "Longfinned Worm Eel"
description: "Scolecenchelys breviceps — Peixes. The long-finned worm eel or short-headed worm eel, Scolecenchelys breviceps, is a snake eel of the genus Scolecenchelys, found in southern Australia between Rottnest Island and Tasmania, and around New Zealand, to depths of about 50 m, on sandy or muddy bottoms."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pt/animal/longfinned-worm-eel
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Longfinned Worm Eel

> Scolecenchelys breviceps — Peixes. The long-finned worm eel or short-headed worm eel, Scolecenchelys breviceps, is a snake eel of the genus Scolecenchelys, found in southern Australia between Rottnest Island and Tasmania, and around New Zealand, to depths of about 50 m, on sandy or muddy bottoms.

- Scientific name: *Scolecenchelys breviceps*
- Category: `fish` (Peixes)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mar e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 1369
- Wikidata: [Q284057](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q284057)
- iNaturalist taxon: [502347](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/502347)

## Names

- en: Longfinned Worm Eel

## Countries with the most observations

AU (1214), NZ (11)

## Summary

The long-finned worm eel or short-headed worm eel, Scolecenchelys breviceps, is a snake eel of the genus Scolecenchelys, found in southern Australia between Rottnest Island and Tasmania, and around New Zealand, to depths of about 50 m, on sandy or muddy bottoms.  Its length is between 40 and 60 cm.
The long-finned worm eel is a Māori traditional delicacy, and is skinned and dried mainly outdoors for a period not exceeding longer than 3 months. The eel is not dangerous to humans, but can pack a fight in the sense of it feeling threatened, where it will nip the person or other mammal as a sense of protection. These…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-finned_worm_eel

## Photo

![Longfinned Worm Eel](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/longfinned-worm-eel/medium.jpg)

Photo: julie burgher · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/304411961

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/longfinned-worm-eel?lang=pt` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).