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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Uroconger syringinus

Threadtail Conger
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

There are no photos available for this taxon yet.

Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Anguilliformes (True Eels) Congridae (Conger Eels) Uroconger Uroconger syringinus (Threadtail Conger)

Description

This species account was compiled from Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Moderately elongated body with anus at about one-third of length and greatly attenuated tail. Snout projects slightly beyond lower jaw. Flange present on lower lip. Anterior nostril tubular, near tip of snout; posterior nostril elliptical, anterior to midheight of eye. Snout 25-30%, eye 12-16%, mouth length 36-42% of head length. Head length 36-42%, predorsal length 39-43% of preanal length. Jaw teeth moderately large, acute, in two rows anteriorly, converging to single row posteriorly; lower jaw with additional short, inner, rudimentary row. Intermaxillary tooth patch relatively large, with two transverse rows, separated from maxillary and vomerine teeth. Vomerine teeth in single row extending posterior to maxillary teeth. Three posteriormost head pores along upper jaw enlarged and slitlike. Head pores: 5-7 interorbital, 3-5 supraorbital, 1-3 supratemporal. Branchiostegal rays 9, pectoral fin rays 11-12, lateral line pores to anus 40-46. Total vertebrae 220-225, predorsal vertebrae 11, preanal vertebrae 46-49, precaudal vertebrae 86.
Brown to grayish brown, with vertical fins black edged and stomach and intestine pale.

Distribution

East coast of Florida to Suriname, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and rarely in the West Indies.

Habitat Associations

Tropical to warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, at depths of 44-384 m.

Biology

Maximum known size is 380 mm TL.
Further study is needed to clarify the differences between this species and U. lepturus (Richardson) from the Indo-West Pacific.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-19. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

References

Ginsburg 1954
Hoese and Moore 1977
Smith 1989f,k
Boschung 1992
Smith, D.G. (1990) Congridae. p. 156-167. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.

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