Large-toothed conger

Large-toothed conger
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Congridae
Genus:	Bathyuroconger
Species:	B. vicinus
Binomial name
Bathyuroconger vicinus (Vaillant, 1888)
Synonyms[2]
Uroconger vicinus Vaillant, 1888 Uroconger braueri Weber & de Beaufort, 1916 Bathyuroconger braueri (Weber & de Beaufort, 1916)

The large-toothed conger (Bathyuroconger vicinus, also known as the largetooth conger^[3]) is an eel belonging to the family Congridae (conger/garden eels).^[4] It was described by Léon Vaillant in 1888, originally as a species of the genus Uroconger.^[5]

Distribution

It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern central, southeastern, and western central Atlantic, in Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, French Guiana, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Suriname, Togo, the United States, and Venezuela.^[1] It is known to dwell in sandy regions at a depth range of 120–1318 meters, occurring most frequently between 900–1000 m. Males can reach a maximum total length of 88 centimeters.^[4]

Northwestern Pacific populations of the large-toothed conger have been recognized as belonging to four separate species, B. albus, B. dolichosomus, B. fowleri, and B. hawaiiensis.^[6]

Biology

The Large-toothed conger feeds predominantly on finfish.^[7] It is used as a food fish in some countries, and is also sometimes caught by fisheries harvesting other species. The IUCN redlist currently lists it as Least Concern, in part due to its widespread distribution and also partly because its use/interaction with fisheries does not occur throughout its entire range, nor is it thought to be at risk of overharvesting due to its deep water nature.^[1]

References

1. Smith, D. (2010). "Bathyuroconger vicinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T154673A4602802. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T154673A4602802.en. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
2. Synonyms of Bathyuroconger vicinus at www.fishbase.org.
3. Common names for Bathyuroconger vicinus at www.fishbase.org.
4. Bathyuroconger vicinus at www.fishbase.org.
5. Vaillant, L. L., 1888 [ref. 4496] Expéditions scientifiques du "Travailleur" et du "Talisman" pendant les années 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883. Poissons. Paris. 1-406, Pls. 1-28.
6. Smith, D. G., H.-C. Ho and F. Tashiro 2018. Eels of the genus Bathyuroconger in the northwestern Pacific, with descriptions of four new species (Anguilliformes: Congridae). Zootaxa 4454 (no. 1): 147-167.
7. Food items reported for Bathyuroconger vicinus at www.fishbase.org.