Carpet Eel Blenny, Congrogadus subducens (Richardson 1843)


Other Names: Ambeetunbeet, Carpet Conger Blenny, Carpet Eelblenny, Carpet Eel-blenny, Daggerfish, Eared Eel-blenny, Launce, Lurking Machete, Mud Blenny, Ocellated Eel Blenny, Wolf Eel

A Carpet Eel Blenny, Congrogadus subducens, at Cleaverville, Western Australia, September 2017, depth 4.5 m. Source: Natalie Callanan / Pilbara Dive and Tours. License: All rights reserved

Summary:
A well-camouflaged green to greenish-brown eel blenny covered in pale speckles, blotches, irregular saddles and bands, a pale caudal fin, and often a pale bar across the cheek and a large pale-edged blotch on the gill cover.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2017, Congrogadus subducens in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/4533

Carpet Eel Blenny, Congrogadus subducens (Richardson 1843)

More Info


Distribution

Shark Bay, Western Australia, to the southern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical east-Indo-west Pacific.
Inhabits coastal reefs and estuaries, often hiding amongst rocks, algae and coral rubble, or in reef crevices.

Features

Dorsal fin 68-79; Anal fin 57-66; Pectoral fin 7-11; Lateral-line scales 42-68; Vertebrae 74-84; pelvic fins absent.
Body very long, slender, eel-like, depth at anal-fin origin 39-80% HL; gill membranes ventrally free from the isthmus; posterior otic sensory canal pore present; cephalic sensory canal pores unpigmented. Scales small, elliptical, cycloid.

Feeding

Feeds on shrimps, crabs and small fishes.

Species Citation

Machaerium subducens Richardson 1843. On a specimen of Machaerium subducens from Port Essington, New Holland, belonging to the collection made by Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gould's assistant. Transactions. Report of the 12th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1842: 69-70 [69] [also published slightly later in Richardson, J. 1843. Description of the lurking machere (Machaerium subducens) from the northern coast of New Holland. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1 12(76): 175–178 fig. 6 [176 pl. 6]]. Type data: Holotype BMNH skin, Port Essington, NT.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2017

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Carpet Eel Blenny, Congrogadus subducens (Richardson 1843)

References


Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Castelnau, F.L. de 1875. Researches on the fishes of Australia. Intercolonial Exhibition Essays. 2. pp. 1–52 in, Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 : Official Record. Melbourne. (p. 27, as Stenophus marmoratus and S. obscurus). 

Fisher, C. & Calaby, J. 2009. The top of the Top End: John Gilbert’s manuscript notes for John Gould on vertebrates from Port Essington and Cobourg Peninsula (Northern Territory, Australia); with comments on specimens collected during the settlement period 1838 to 1849, and subsequently. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Supplement 4, 1–240. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2011.0023

Gill, A.C. 1999. Family Pseudochromidae. pp. 2557-2577 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790.

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.

Godkin, C.M. & Winterbottom, R. 1985. Phylogeny of the family Congrogadidae (Pisces; Perciformes) and its placement as a subfamily of the Pseudochromidae. Bulletin of Marine Science 36(3): 633-671 figs 1-15 

Herwig, N. & Dewey, D. 1982. Congrogadus subducens, a new challenge for the marine aquarist. Freshwat. Mar. Aquar. 5(3): 6-11, 83-87, 90-91.

Johnson, J.W. & Gill, A.C. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of Sweers Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. Gulf of Carpentaria Scientific Study Report. Geography Monograph Series. Brisbane: Royal Geographic Society of Queensland. pp. 239-260.

Larson, H.K. 1999. Report to Parks Australia North, on the estuarine fish inventory of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. MAGNT Research Report No. 5, 50 pp. 

Larson, H.K. & Williams, R.S. 1997. Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. pp. 339-380 in Hanley, H.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H.K. (eds). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biology Workshop. Darwin : Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 466 pp.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs. 

Richardson, J. 1843. On a specimen of Machaerium subducens from Port Essington, New Holland, belonging to the collection made by Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gould's assistant. Transactions. Report of the 12th Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1842: 69-70.

Richardson, J. 1843. Description of the lurking machere (Machaerium subducens) from the northern coast of New Holland. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1 12(76): 175–178 fig. 6

Taylor, W.R. 1964. Fishes of Arnhem Land. In: Mountford, C.P. (ed.) Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land. Parkville, Melbourne University Press, 533 pp.

Whitley, G.P. 1929. Studies in Ichthyology No. 3. Records of the Australian Museum, 17(3): 101–143.http://dx.doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.17.1929.757

Winterbottom, R. 1986. Revision and vicariance biogeography of the subfamily Congrogadinae (Pisces: Perciformes: Pseudochromidae). Indo-Pacific Fishes 9: 1-34 figs 1-37 pl. 1 

Winterbottom, R., Reist, J.D. & Goodchild, C.D. 1984. Geographic variation in Congrogadus subduscens (Teleostei, Perciformes, Congrogadidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 62: 1605-1617 figs 1-7

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37411004

Depth:1-10 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:42.5 cm TL

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map