Conger is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of the Mediterranean Sea, and both European and American congers are sometimes caught by fishermen along the European and North American Atlantic coasts.
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. The family includes over 220 species in 32 genera.
Leptocephalus is a genus that was used for species of larval eels, called leptocephali. Leptocephali larvae differ so much in appearance from their adults. When first discovered, leptocephali were thought to be a distinct type of fish, not an eel specie. Because of this, the genus designation of Leptocephalus was used for a while for an unidentified leptocephali. After it was known that these were eel larvae, it was identified to be part of a wastebasket taxon, but not anymore in the present classification system. Examples of marine congrid larvae, found in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea that were named this way are listed below. Only two species in two families are currently treated as having any validity, though the validity of L. bellottii is strongly in doubt.
Ariosoma is a genus of marine congrid eels.
Bathycongrus is a genus of eels in the family Congridae.
Macrocephenchelys is a genus of eels in the family Congridae.
Parabathymyrus is a genus of eels in the family Congridae.
Rhynchoconger is a genus of eels in the family Congridae.
The Congrinae are a subfamily of eels in the family Congridae.
The blunt-tooth conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Paul Pappenheim in 1914, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a marine, deep-water dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-West Pacific, including the Red Sea, eastern Africa, and Australia. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 360–800 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 30 centimetres.
Ariosoma multivertebratum is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Emma Stanislavovna Karmovskaya in 2004. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Marquesas Islands, in the eastern central Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 300–460 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 54.2 centimetres.
Parabathymyrus brachyrhynchus is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Henry Weed Fowler in 1934, originally under the genus Ariosoma. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the western central Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a maximum depth of 289 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 33 centimetres.
Bathycongrus bleekeri is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Henry Weed Fowler in 1934. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Philippines, in the western central Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 51 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 8 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.
The Toothy conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Henry Weed Fowler in 1934, originally under the genus Uranoconger. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the western Indian and southwestern Pacific Ocean, including the Philippines and Indonesia. It is known to dwell at a depth of 886 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 4.3 centimetres.
The Conger eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Earl Desmond Reid in 1934, originally under the genus Congrina. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Cuba and Venezuela, in the western central Atlantic Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 476–659 metres.
Bathyuroconger parvibranchialis is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Henry Weed Fowler in 1934, originally under the genus Silvesterina. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the western central Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 1023 metres.
The large-toothed conger is an eel belonging to the family Congridae. It was described by Léon Vaillant in 1888, originally as a species of the genus Uroconger.
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.
Rhynchoconger guppyi is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by John Roxborough Norman in 1925, originally under the genus Congromuraena. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western central Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, northern South America and southern Brazil. It dwells at a depth range of 137 to 458 metres, and inhabits the continental slope. Males can reach a maximum total length of 95 centimetres (37 in).
