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.
The spotted garden eel is a species of heteroconger belonging to the family Congridae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific.
The garden eels are the subfamily Heterocongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The majority of the 36 known species of garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific, but can be found in warm ocean water worldwide. These small eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from the behavior 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 in color and size depending on the species. 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 and number up to several thousand individuals.
Uroconger is a genus of eels in the family Congridae. It currently contains the following species:
The Congrinae are a subfamily of eels in the family Congridae.
The Maputo conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle in 1968. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which also inhabits brackish waters, and is known from the Limpopo River and the Indian Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 470–490 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 58 centimetres.
The deepsea conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle in 1960, originally under the genus Pseudoxenomystax. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It leads a benthic lifestyle and inhabits continental shelves and slopes. Males can reach a maximum total length of 100 centimetres.
The neighbor conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Samuel Garman in 1899, originally under the genus Uroconger. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel that is known from the southwestern and western central Atlantic Ocean, including the Bahamas, Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico. It dwells at a depth range of 101–503 metres (331–1,650 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 46.2 centimetres (18.2 in).
The Longnose conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle in 1968, originally under the genus Congrina. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including Mozambique, Natal, South Africa, Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It dwells at a depth range of 250–500 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 55 centimetres.
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 castlei, or Castle'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 marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Queensland, Australia, in the western central Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 131–366 metres. Males can reach a total length of 34.2 centimetres.
Paruroconger is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Congrinae, the conger eels, in the family Congridae, which also includes the[[garden eel]s. The only species in the genus is Paruroconger drachi, an eel which is known only from the holotype collected in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo.
The slender conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by John Richardson in 1845, originally under the genus Congrus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific Ocean, including the Red Sea, South Africa, and Japan. It dwells at a depth range of 18 to 760 metres, and inhabits sand and mud. Males can reach a maximum total length of 52 centimetres (20 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 30 centimetres (12 in).
The threadtail conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Isaac Ginsburg in 1954. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico and Suriname. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 44 to 384 meters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 38 centimeters (15 in).
The Barnes' garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Bruce H. Robison and Thomas M. Lancraft in 1984. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western Pacific Ocean, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 5 to 20 metres, and inhabits sand substrates. Males can reach a maximum total length of 121 centimetres (48 in).
Heteroconger balteatus is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle and John Ernest Randall in 1999. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea, in the western Indian Ocean. It is known to dwell at a minimum depth of 46 m (151 ft), and inhabits regions of current, where it forms burrows in sand. It enters its burrows tail-first. Females can reach a maximum total length of 33.1 cm.
Heteroconger tomberua is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle and John Ernest Randall in 1995. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western central Pacific Ocean, including Fiji and possibly New Caledonia, the Philippines, the Nicobar Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka. It is known to dwell at a depth of 36 m (118 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 42.8 cm.
Tricia's garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Peter Henry John Castle and John Ernest Randall in 1999. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from Flores, Indonesia, in the eastern Indian Ocean. Males can reach a maximum total length of 49.6 cm (19.5 in).
