The shortfin false moray (Kaupichthys brachychirus) is an eel in the family Chlopsidae. It was described by Leonard Peter Schultz in 1953. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from American Samoa, Samoa, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Wallis and Futuna. It typically dwells in seaward and lagoon coral reefs at an approximate depth of 43 m. Males can reach a maximum total length of 13 cm.