[2] Ophichthus cruentifer grows to 47 cm (1 ft 7 in) total length.

[2] The following description is from Bigelow and Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine:[3] The most striking feature of this fish and one that distinguishes it from all other Gulf of Maine eels is that the tip of its tail is hard and pointed.

The gill openings are short new-moon-shaped slits, close in front of the bases of the pectoral fins.

However, those that have been sighted have been light brown uniformly, with large snake eels being darker than small ones.

A young specimen about 2½ inches (6½ cm) long was pale with dark speckles.