Family CONGRIDAE

Congridae

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Introduction

Members of the Congridae, commonly known as conger eels, live throughout the tropical and temperate oceans of the world. Currently, about 30 genera and more than 194 species are recognised worldwide (Nelson et al. 2016). The Australian fauna is represented by 18 genera and 36 described species plus one additional species from an external territory.

Conger eels occur from shallow coastal areas to the continental slope, generally over sand, and prey on a variety of fishes and invertebrates. As with other eels, they have a characteristic leptocephalus larva. They range in size as adults from 10 cm to 3 m.

No comprehensive revision is available for Indo-Pacific species. However, there are a number of regional works including that of Böhlke & Randall (1981) who discussed Indo-Pacific garden eels of the subfamily Heterocongrinae, Asano (1962) who treated species from Japanese waters, Castle (1964) who treated the temperate Australian species, Castle (1968) who treated western Indian Ocean species, and Smith (1999) who presented a key to species from the tropical western Pacific. Smith (2008) treated species found off southern Australia. Kanazawa (1958) revised the genus Conger.

General References

Asano, H. 1962. Studies on the congrid eels of Japan. Bulletin of the Misaki Marine Biological Institute. Kyoto University (1): 1-143 figs 1-62

Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) 1989. Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Volume One: Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes. Volume Two: Leptocephali. Yale University : The Sears Foundation for Marine Research Part 9, 1055 pp.

Böhlke, J.E. & Randall, J.R. 1981. Four new garden eels (Congridae, Heterocongrinae) from the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Bulletin of Marine Science 31(2): 366-382 figs 1-8

Castle, P.H.J. 1964. Congrid leptocephali in Australasian waters with descriptions of Conger wilsoni (Bl. and Schn.) and C. verreauxi Kaup. Zoological Publications of the Victoria University, Wellington (37): 1-44 figs 1-10

Castle, P.H.J. 1968. The congrid eels of the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute, Grahamstown 33: 685-726 fig. 1 pls 105-108

Kanazawa, R.H. 1958. A revision of the eels of the genus Conger with descriptions of four new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 108(3400): 219-267 figs 1-7 pls 1-4

Nelson, J.S., Grande, T.C. & Wilson, M.V.H. 2016. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons 5, 752 pp.

Smith, D.G. 1999. Families Colocongridae, Derichthyidae, Muraenesocidae, Nemichtyhyidae, Congridae, Nettastomatidae, Serrivomeridae, Cyematidae, Saccopharyngidae, Eurypharyngidae, Monognathidae. pp. 1670-1697 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.

Smith, D.G. 2008. Family Congridae. pp. 174-179 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp. [174]

Common Name References

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls. [58] (Conger-eels)

Smith, D.G. 1999. Families Colocongridae, Derichthyidae, Muraenesocidae, Nemichtyhyidae, Congridae, Nettastomatidae, Serrivomeridae, Cyematidae, Saccopharyngidae, Eurypharyngidae, Monognathidae. pp. 1670-1697 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068. [1680] (FAO) (Conger Eels)

Whitley, G.P. 1966. Marine Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press Vol. 1 pp. 1-142. [24] (Congers)

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