Myroconger | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Suborder: | Muraenoidei |
Family: | Myrocongridae T. N. Gill, 1890 |
Genus: | Myroconger Günther, 1870 |
Species | |
6, see text. |
Myroconger is the only genus of eels, the thin eels, in the family Myrocongridae. Very little is known about the group. [1]
Until recently, only a single specimen from this family was known. This individual had been caught off Saint Helena in 1868. In the 1990s and 2000s, deep-sea submersibles identified several more individuals, including four further species. [2] The first known species, M. compressus, was bright red in colour, but not all other species share this trait.
The currently recognized species in this genus are: [3] [4]
Listrura is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.
Synaphobranchus is a genus of eels in the cutthroat eel family, Synaphobranchidae. It currently contains the following species:
Phreatobius is a genus of very small catfishes from tropical South America.
Neolissochilus is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae native to freshwater habitats in Asia that are often grouped with the mahseers. The largest reach up to 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length, but most species are much smaller.
Stenolicmus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.
Copionodon is a genus of catfishes of the family Trichomycteridae. It includes three species, C. lianae, C. orthiocarinatus, and C. pecten.
Pseudostegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to rivers in tropical South America. The members of this genus are obligate parasites that feed on scales and mucus of other fish.
Plotosus is a genus of eeltail catfishes native to the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean and New Guinea.
Pristiophorus is a genus of sawsharks found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Members of this genus differ from the Sixgill Sawshark (Pliotrema warreni) in having five gill slits. Their rostral sawteeth lack prominent transverse ridges on the basal ledges, and the large teeth are not posteriorly serrated.
The gardens eel are the subfamily Heterochongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The majority of garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific, but species are also found in warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean and East Pacific. These small eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from their practice of poking their heads from their burrows while most of their bodies remain hidden. Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" from the sea floor resemble the plants in a garden. They vary greatly in colour depending on the exact species involved. The largest species reaches about 120 cm (47 in) in length, but most species do not surpass 60 cm (24 in). Garden eel colonies can grow as large as one acre in surface area.
Paraconger is a genus of eels in the family Congridae. It currently contains the following species:
Rhynchoconger is a genus of eels in the family Congridae.
Bascanichthys is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. It currently contains the following species:
Cirrhimuraena is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae.
Yirrkala is a genus of eels in the snake eel family Ophichthidae. It is named after Yirrkala, an indigenous community in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Dysommina is a genus of eels in the cutthroat eel family Synaphobranchidae. It currently contains the following species:
Bassozetus is a genus of cusk-eels found in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.
Chilara taylori, the spotted cusk-eel, is a species of cusk-eel found along the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean where it is found at depths of around 280 metres (920 ft) from Washington, United States to Ecuador. This species grows to a length of 40.4 centimetres (15.9 in) TL. It is the only known member of its genus.
The red eel is an eel in the family Myrocongridae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1870. It is a tropical, marine eel known from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including St. Helena, Dakar, Senegal, and possibly São Tomé and Principe. Males are known to reach a maximum total length of 53.8 cm. These eel are classified as teleost fish, meaning they belong to a group of fish that comprises ray-finned fish. These fins aid the eel in gliding through the water faster or crawling on the ocean floor.
Aphyonus is a genus of blind cusk eels from the family Aphyonidae. It contains four species. A sampling of specimens of Aphyonus showed that the type species of Aphyonus, A. gelatinosus, was not closely related to the other known species in the genus, and a new genus Paraphyonus was named for these, including two newly identified species. The result of this classification is that Aphyonus would be a monotypic genus.