The Congridae are the family of conger and
garden eels. Congers are valuable and often large
food fish
Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients in the human diet.
The English language does not have a s ...
es, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden (thus the name).
The family includes over 220 species in 32 genera.
The
European conger, ''Conger conger'', is the largest of the family and of the
Anguilliformes
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
order that includes it; it has been recorded at up to in length and weighing .
Congrids are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas around the world. Clear distinguishing features among congrids are few; they all lack scales, and most possess
pectoral fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...
s. They feed on crustaceans and small fish.
The earliest known fossils of this group are otoliths from the
Campanian
The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...
of the United States.
A number of articulated specimens are known from the
Paleogene
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
of Europe.
Genera
The Congridae is divided into the following subfamilies and genera:
otolith
An otolith (, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called otoconium, statolith, or statoconium, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle (ear), utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The saccule ...
-based taxon; Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...
of the United States and Germany)
* '' Bolcyrus'' Blot
Blot may refer to:
Surname
* Guillaume Blot (born 1985), French racing cyclist
* Harold W. Blot (born 1938), served as United States Deputy Chief of Staff for Aviation
* Jean-François Joseph Blot (1781–1857), French soldier and politician
* Y ...
, 1978 (1 species, fossil; Eocene of Italy)
* '' Congrophichthus'' Schwarzhans & Stringer
Stringer may refer to:
Structural elements
* Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened
* Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal
* Stringer (stairs), ...
,2020 (1 species; otolith-based taxon; Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene
The Danian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Paleocene Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series, of the Paleogene Period or system (stratigraphy), System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginnin ...
of the United States)
* '' Voltaconger' Blot, 1978' (1 species, fossil; Eocene of Italy)
* Subfamily Bathymyrinae J. E. Böhlke, 1949
** '' Ariosoma'' Swainson, 1838 (39 species)
** '' Bathymyrus'' Alcock, 1889 (three species)
** '' Chiloconger'' Myers
Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh").
People
* Abram F. Myers (1889–after 1960), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and b ...
& Wade, 1941 (two species)
** '' Kenyaconger'' D. G. Smith & Karmovskaya, 2003 (one species)
** '' Parabathymyrus'' Kamohara, 1938 (six species)
** '' Paraconger'' Kanazawa
is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was .
Etymology
The name "Kanazaw ...
, 1961 (seven species)
** '' Rostroconger'' D. G. Smith, 2015 (one species)
** '' Paracongroides'' Blot, 1978 (1 species, fossil; Eocene of Italy)
** '' Pavelichthys'' Bannikov & Fedotov, 1984Karrer Karrer is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Annie May Hurd Karrer (1893–?), American plant physiologist
* Chris Karrer (1947–2024), German guitarist and composer
* Felix Karrer (1825–1903), Austrian geologist
* Josef Karrer ( ...
& D. G. Smith, 1980 (two species)
** '' Castleichthys'' D. G. Smith, 2004 (one species)
** ''Conger
''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of t ...
'' Bosc, 1817 (21 species)
** '' Congrhynchus'' Fowler, 1934 (one species)
** '' Congriscus'' D. S. Jordan & C. L. Hubbs, 1925 (three species)
** '' Congrosoma'' Garman, 1899 (one species)
** '' Diploconger'' Kotthaus, 1968 (one species)
** '' Gavialiceps'' Alcock, 1889 (five species)
** '' Gnathophis'' Kaup, 1859 (27 species)
** '' Japonoconger'' Asano, 1958 (three species)
** '' Lumiconger'' Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
& Paxton, 1984 (one species)
** '' Macrocephenchelys'' Fowler, 1856 (two species)
** '' Paruroconger'' Blache & Bauchot, 1976
** '' Promyllantor'' Allcock, 1890 (three species)
** '' Pseudophichthys'' Roule, 1915 (one species)
** '' Rhynchoconger'' D. S. Jordan & C. L. Hubbs, 1925 (10 species)
** '' Scalanago'' Whitley, 1935 (one species)
** '' Smithconger'' Carnevale, Schwarzhans, Schrøder & Lindow, 2022 (two species, fossil & otolith; Eocene of Denmark & New Zealand)Uroconger
''Uroconger'' is a genus of eels in the family Congridae. It currently contains the following species:
* ''Uroconger erythraeus'' Peter Henry John Castle, Castle, 1982
* ''Uroconger lepturus'' (John Richardson (naturalist), J. Richardson, 1845) ...
'' Kaup, 1856 (four species)
** '' Xenomystax'' Gilbert, 1891 (five species)
* Subfamily Heterocongrinae Günther, 1870 (garden eels)
** '' Gorgasia'' Meek & Hildebrand
Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...
, 1923 (14 species)
** '' Heteroconger'' Bleeker, 1868 (24 species)
See also
*List of fish families
This is a list of fish families sorted alphabetically by scientific name. There are 525 families in the list.
__NOTOC__
A - B - C - D - E - F -
G - H - I - J - K -
L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
- ...
References
Marine fish families
Anguilliformes families
{{Anguilliformes-stub
Extant Campanian first appearances