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.
Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ophis ("serpent") and ichthys ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for their physical appearance, as they have long, cylindrical, snake-like bodies. This family is found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate waters. They inhabit a wide range of habitats, from coastal shallows and even rivers, to depths below 800 m (2,600 ft). Most species are bottom dwellers, hiding in mud or sand to capture their prey of crustaceans and small fish, but some are pelagic.
The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodied eels of the Anguilliformes. The one characteristic uniting this group of fishes is they all have leptocephalus larvae, which are unique to the Elopomorpha. No other fishes have this type of larvae.
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage and are usually predators.
Parechelus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Ypresian. The genus was circumscribed by Edgard Casier in 1967 for his description of P. parechelus.
Enchelurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It contains three species, known from the Cenomanian to Campanian of Europe and the Middle East.
Eoholocentrum is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the early Eocene. It contains a single species, E. macrocephalum, known from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy. It resembled and was closely related to modern squirrelfishes and soldierfishes, and appears to have been more closely related to squirrelfishes. It can be considered a basal or stem member of the Holocentrinae.
Eoanguilla is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine eel that lived during the early Eocene. It contains a single species, E. leptoptera from the Ypresian-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy. It is thought to have been an early marine relative of the modern freshwater eels.
Eolates is an extinct genus of prehistoric lates perch from the Paleogene of Europe. It contains three species, two marine and one freshwater, known from the early-middle Eocene and Late Oligocene.
Apterichtus is a genus of fish in the family Ophichthidae. Many of its species are called finless eels.
Bascanichthys is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. It currently contains the following species:
Echelus is a genus of eels in the snake-eel family Ophichthidae.
Myrophis is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae.
Ophichthus is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae.
Scolecenchelys is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae.
Cirricaecula macdowelli is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker and John Ernest Randall in 1993. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from Taiwan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Males can reach a maximum total length of 22.8 centimetres.
Ophichthus genie is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John E. McCosker in 1999. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific, including New Caledonia and Maldives. It dwells at a depth range of 430 to 500 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 33.7 centimetres (13.3 in).
Congroidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Anguilliformes, the eels. These eels are mostly marine, although a few species of snake eel will enter freshwater, and they are found in tropical and tempareate waters throughout the world.
The king snake eel is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by James Erwin Böhlke and John H. Caruso in 1980. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from Florida to Texas, USA, in the northern Gulf of Mexico in the western Atlantic Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 15 to 365 meters, and inhabits offshore waters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 211 centimeters (83 in); the maximum recorded weight is 23.6 kilograms (52 lb). caught by Patrick Lemire on the Texsun II out of Galveston, Texas in 1997.
Muraenoidei is a suborder of mainly marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Anguilliformes, the eels. The eels in this suborder are distributed in the tropical and temperate seas around the world.
