[3] It was described by David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert in 1882.

[4] It is a marine, subtropical eel known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the United States.

[5] It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 110 m (3.3 to 360.9 ft), and forms burrows in rocky and sandy regions.

[3] The species epithet zophochir, derived from the Greek term for "dark hand", refers to the dark colouring of the eel's pectoral fin.

[6] Due to its wide distribution in the eastern Pacific, lack of known threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the yellow snake-eel as Least Concern.