Congridae

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Conger and garden eels
Temporal range: Campanian–present
Conger conger Gervais.jpg
Conger conger
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Suborder: Congroidei
Family: Congridae
Kaup, 1856
Subfamilies

Bathymyrinae
Congrinae
Heterocongrinae

The Congridae are the family of conger and garden eels . Congers are valuable and often large food fishes, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden (thus the name). [1] The family includes over 180 species in 32 genera.

Contents

The European conger, Conger conger, is the largest of the family and of the Anguilliformes order that includes it; it has been recorded at up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in length and weighing 350 lb (160 kg). [2]

Congrids are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas around the world. Clear distinguishing features among congrids are few; they all lack scales, and most possess pectoral fins. They feed on crustaceans and small fish. [3]

The earliest known fossils of this group are otoliths from the Campanian of the United States. [4] A number of articulated specimens are known from the Paleogene of Europe. [5]

Genera

Family Congridae

See also

Related Research Articles

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The silver eel, also known as the Melliss's conger, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1870. It is a rare tropical, marine eel which is known solely from St. Helena, in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a maximum depth of 67 meters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 42.8 centimetres.

Chiloconger philippinensis is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by David G. Smith and Emma Stanislavovna Karmovskaya in 2003. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Philippines, in the western central Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 186–230 metres. Females can reach a total length of 19 centimetres.

The Bullish conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by David G. Smith and Robert H. Kanazawa in 1977, originally under the genus Rhechias. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Gulf of Mexico to the Amazon, in the western Atlantic Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 366–475 meters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 39.5 centimeters.

Gnathophis grahami, or Graham's conger, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Emma Stanislavovna Karmovskaya and John Richard Paxton in 2000. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from New South Wales, Australia, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 50–350 metres.

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Rhynchoconger smithi is an eel in the family Congridae.

References

  1. McCosker, John F. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 88–89. ISBN   0-12-547665-5.
  2. British Conger Club Archived 2005-01-03 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2008). "Congridae" in FishBase . December 2008 version.
  4. Schwarzhans, Werner; Stringer, Gary L. (2020-05-06). "Fish Otoliths from the Late Maastrichtian Kemp Clay (Texas, Usa) and the Early Danian Clayton Formation (Arkansas, Usa) and an Assessment of Extinction and Survival of Teleost Lineages Across the K-Pg Boundary Based on Otoliths". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 126 (2). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/13425. ISSN   2039-4942.
  5. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy; Carnevale, Giorgio; Schwarzhans, Werner; Natural History Museum of Denmark; Schrøder, Ane Elise; Natural History Museum of Denmark; Lindow, Bent Erik Kramer; Natural History Museum of Denmark (2022-04-22). "An Eocene conger eel (Teleostei, Anguilliformes) from the Lillebælt Clay Formation, Denmark". Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark. 70: 53–67. doi:10.37570/bgsd-2022-70-05-rev.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)