Longnose Conger, Bathycongrus wallacei (Castle 1968)
A Longnose Conger, Bathycongrus wallacei, NMMB-P29130, 428 mm TL, from Taiwan. Source: After Fig. 11, in Smith & Ho (2018) Zootaxa 4454 (1): 118–146. License: All rights reserved
Summary:
A relatively large pale greyish conger eel shading to paler below, with the dorsal and anal fins pale anteriorly, gradually becoming more blackish posteriorly (entirely black on rear fourth of body), and a black caudal fin.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Bathycongrus wallacei in Fishes of Australia, accessed 09 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5693
Longnose Conger, Bathycongrus wallacei (Castle 1968)
More Info
Distribution |
Exmouth Gulf to SW of Rowley Shoals, Western Australia. Elsewhere the species occurs in the Indo-west Pacific: southwestern Indian Ocean, Taiwan & Japan. |
Features |
Preanal vertebrae 38–43, precaudal vertebrae 53–57, total vertebrae 172–181; Preanal lateral-line pores 39–43. A moderately large, slender species with tail tapering and filiform; two enlarged teeth on vomer followed posteriorly by 2 smaller teeth side by side; trunk length 1.5–1.7 times head length. Dorsal fin origin above pectoral-fin base to middle of fin, continuous with caudal and anal fins. Anal fin origin immediately behind anus. Pectoral fin well developed, pointed, base narrow. Gill opening large, ~ eye size, upper end opposite middle to lower part of pectoral-fin base; interbranchial broader than gill opening and eye. |
Fisheries |
Taken as bycatch in bottom trawls in parts of its range. |
Etymology |
The species is named in honour of John Wallace, of the Oceanographic Research Institute (Durban), whose efforts were primarily responsible in forwarding valuable specimens of this species for study. |
Species Citation |
Congrina wallacei Castle 1968, Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University No. 33: 709, Pl. 107 B; Fig. 1 (a-b). Type locality: Off the mouth of Limpopo River, Mozambique, depth 480-500 m. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2022 |
Resources |
Longnose Conger, Bathycongrus wallacei (Castle 1968)
References
Castle, P.H.J. 1968. The congrid eels of the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University No. 33: 685-726.
Castle, P.H.J. 1986. Family No. 40. Congridae pp. 161-165 in Smith, M.M. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Smith's Sea Fishes. Johannesburg : Macmillan South Africa xx + 1047 pp. (as Rhechias wallacei) See ref at BHL
Castle, P.H.J. & Smith, D.G. 1999. A reassessment of the eels of the genus Bathycongrus in the Indo-west Pacific. Journal of Fish Biology 54: 973-995.
Karmovskaya, E.S. & Smith, D.G. 2008. Bathycongrus trimaculatus, a new congrid eel (Teleostei: Anguilliformes) from the southwestern Pacific, with a redescription of Bathycongrus bleekeri Fowler. Zootaxa 1943: 26-36.
McCosker, J., Smith, D.G. & Tighe, K. 2019. Bathycongrus wallacei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T199140A2563257. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T199140A2563257.en. Accessed on 03 October 2022.
Smith, D.G. & Ho, H.-C. 2018. The congrid eel genus Bathycongrus of Taiwan, with descriptions of three new species (Anguilliformes: Congridae). Zootaxa 4454(1): 118-146. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4454.1.12