Lord Howe Conger, Ariosoma howense (McCulloch & Waite 1916)
A Lord Howe Conger, Ariosoma howense, at Cobbys Corner, Lord Howe Island, March 2024, depth <1m (right eye missing). Source: profmollusc (Steve Smith) / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial
Summary:
A relatively stout light brownish to greyish conger eel with dark bands across the head: the first on the snout (except for white lips and nostrils), the second across the interorbital region and forming a dark patch below the eye, the third band across the nape and preopercular region, and the fourth band across the operculum. The species has a narrow dark margin on the dorsal, caudal and anal fins, and the dorsal fin originates above the operculum.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2024, Ariosoma howense in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Oct 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3908
Lord Howe Conger, Ariosoma howense (McCulloch & Waite 1916)
More Info
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Distribution |
East of Flinders Reefs, Queensland Plateau, Coral Sea, to east of Stradbroke Island, Queensland; also the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the south-west Pacific: New Caledonia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu. Usually benthopelagic on the continental shelf and slope. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin 211-241; Anal fin 161-178; Vertebrae 151-161, trunk vertebrae 77-82. Dorsal fin originating before base of pectoral fin, above the 4th-6th pore of lateral line; pores of lateral line to anus 53-59. Supraorbital canal 6, suborbital canal 8, preoperculo-mandibular canal 10, occipital commissure 3. |
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Etymology |
The species is named for the type locality: Lord Howe Island. |
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Species Citation |
Congermuraena howensis McCulloch & Waite 1916, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 40: 438, pl.40 (fig.2). Type locality: Lord Howe Island |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2024 |
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Resources |
Lord Howe Conger, Ariosoma howense (McCulloch & Waite 1916)
References
Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2
Castle, P.H.J. 1964. Congrid leptocephali in Australasian waters with descriptions of Conger wilsoni (Bl. and Schn.) and C. verreauxi Kaup. Zoological Publications of the Victoria University, Wellington (37): 1-44 figs 1-10 (as a synonym of Ariosoma mauritianum)
Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2
Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)
Karmovskaya, E.S. 2004. Benthopelagic bathyal conger eels of families Congridae and Nettastomatidae from the western tropical Pacific, with descriptions of ten new species. Journal of Ichthyology 44(Suppl. 1): 1-32
McCosker, J., Tighe, K. & Smith, D.G. 2019. Ariosoma howensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T199356A2586686. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T199356A2586686.en. Accessed on 19 August 2024.
McCulloch, A.R. & Waite, E.R. 1916. Additions to the fish fauna of Lord Howe Island. No. 5. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 40: 437-451 pls 40-43 See ref at BHL
Smith, D.G. 1989. Family Congridae. pp. 460–567 in Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Orders Anguilliformes and Saccopharyngiformes. Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University, Pt 9, Vol. 1. 655 pp. (as a synonym of Ariosoma mauritianum)
Smith, D.G. & Stewart, A.L. 2015. Families Derichthyidae, Nemichthyidae, Congridae, Nettastomatidae, Serrivomeridae. pp. 259-290 in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. The Fishes of New Zealand. Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 2 pp. 1-576.
