From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Genus of fishes
Conger
(
KONG
-g?r
) is a
genus
of marine
congrid
eels
.
[2]
It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length,
[3]
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 life histories of most conger eels are poorly known. Based on collections of their small
leptocephalus
larvae, the American conger eel has been found to spawn in the southwestern
Sargasso Sea
, close to the spawning areas of the
Atlantic
freshwater
eels.
"Conger" or "conger eel" is sometimes included in the common names of species of the family
Congridae
, including members of this genus.
Description
[
edit
]
Congers have wide mouths with sturdy teeth, usually a variant of gray or black in coloration. They have no scales.
[4]
Their body weight can reach over 57 kilograms (125 lbs).
[5]
Species
[
edit
]
- Conger cinereus
Ruppell
, 1830
(longfin African conger)
- Conger conger
(
Linnaeus
,
1758
)
(European conger)
- Conger erebennus
(
D. S. Jordan
&
Snyder
, 1901)
(Anaconger)
- Conger esculentus
Poey
, 1861
(grey conger)
- Conger macrocephalus
Kanazawa
, 1958
- Conger marginatus
Valenciennes
, 1850
(Hawaiian Mustache Conger)
- Conger melanopterus
Kodeeswaran et al., 2023
- Conger myriaster
(
Brevoort
, 1856)
(whitespotted conger)
- Conger oceanicus
(
Mitchill
, 1818)
(American conger)
- Conger oligoporus
Kanazawa
, 1958
- Conger orbignianus
Valenciennes
, 1842
(Argentine conger)
- Conger philippinus
Kanazawa
, 1958
- Conger triporiceps
Kanazawa
, 1958
(manytooth conger)
- Conger verreauxi
Kaup
, 1856
(southern conger)
- Conger wilsoni
(
Bloch
&
J. G. Schneider
, 1801)
(Cape conger)
Formerly Included Species
[
edit
]
Fishing
[
edit
]
Fishing for congers was first recorded in the 12th century. The
Norman taxation Pipe Roll
recorded two
eperquerie
on
Guernsey
and one on
Sark
. These were designated places where congers were dried.
[6]
One species of the conger eel,
Conger myriaster
, is an important food fish in East Asia. It is often served as
sushi
.
Behaviour
[
edit
]
Congers are
predators
and can attack humans. In July 2013, a diver was attacked by a
European conger
eel in
Killary Harbour
,
Ireland
, at a depth of 25 metres (82 ft). The eel bit a large chunk from his face. The diver reported the creature was more than 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) in length and "about the width of a human thigh".
[7]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Conger
.