西太平洋稀有民多羅龍口蛇鰻

Notes on the Mindoro Snake Eel Lamnostoma mindorum (Jordan and Richardson) (Ophichthidae: Pisces) in the Western Pacific

The Mindoro snake eel Lamnostoma mindorum (Jordan and Richardson) is one of the rare species in the family Ophichthidae. Only four specimens have been collected in the western Pacific from the Mindoro and Luzon islands of the Philippines, the Waigeu Island of New Guinea, and the Hsiukuluan River of the eastern Taiwan. This paper reports the fifth specimen from the Limpen River of the southwest Taiwan. L. mindorum is more likely a marine eel living in sand and soil substrates along the Kuroshio Current in the tropical western Pacific. The specimens that have been collected might be the accidental intruders to freshwater rivers, a reason of its rarity in collection. This paper also reviews the systematic (generic) position of L. mindorum, and considers that Lamnostoma taylori (Herre) from Iba of the Philippines a valid species rather than a synonym to L. mindorum as previously assumed. 民多羅龍口蛇鰻（Lamnostoma mindorum）為蛇鰻科稀有魚種之一。至今只發現4隻標本，採集於菲律賓呂宋島及民多羅島、新幾內亞衛古島和台灣花蓮縣秀姑巒溪。本報告發表在屏東林邊溪採集之第五隻標本，推測民多羅龍口蛇鰻乃棲息於西太平洋熱帶區域沿黑潮邊海底土砂裡，偶然進入河口或淡水域中被捕獲，乃為其稀有之原因。本文根據Herre（1923）的原始描述及本種比對結果，判定Lamnostoma taylori（Herre）為一有效種。