Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes
(Eels and morays) > Congridae
(Conger and garden eels) > Congrinae
Etymology: Conger: Latin, conger = conger (Ref. 45335). More on author: Rüppell.
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 80 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 32°N - 47°S, 24°E - 140°W
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 140 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 90102); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11039)
Vertebrae: 139 - 146. Flanges on upper and lower lips well developed; 2 rows of teeth in jaws, those of outer row larger; closely set and compressed to form cutting edge; 6th infraorbital pore located close behind and slightly above posterior angle of jaw. Dorsal fin begins over middle of appressed pectoral fin (Ref. 11039, refer to key for other characters). Brownish grey, yellow below and on fins, median fins with narrow black edge, black patch on lower rear edge of eye and on pectorals (Ref. 5323); assumes a pattern of broad dark bands at night (see also Ref. 4538, 1602). Body depth at gill opening 17-23 in TL (Ref. 90102).
Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Marquesan and Easter islands, north to southern Japan and the Ogasawara Islands, south to northern Australia and Lord Howe Island; except in Hawaii, where former subspecies C. marginatus is found.
Solitary species common on reef flats and seagrass beds of shallow lagoons but ranges to depths of 80 m on outer reef slopes (Ref. 1602). Also found in estuaries (Ref. 5213). Feeds on fish and crustaceans at night, assuming a pattern of broad dark grey bars (Ref. 11441).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Smith, D.G., 1999. Congridae. Conger eels. p. 1680-1686. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the WCP. Vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome. (Ref. 11039)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 96402)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00069 (0.00038 - 0.00127), b=3.16 (2.99 - 3.33), based on LWR estimates for species & Subfamily-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 4.3 ±0.5 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100) .