Spaghetti eels (Moringuidae) and false moray eels (Chlopsidae)

Left: Spaghetti eel (Moringua edwardsi), Panama;
(Photo by artour_a)
Right: Bicolored false moray (Chlopsis bicolor), Italy;
(Photo by Pierpaolo Consoli)

We have looked at a wide variety of eels, from moray eels (F. Muraenidae), to snake eels (F. Ophichthidae), from conger eels (F. Congridae) and pike conger eels (F. Muraenesocidae), to the most famous eel family of all, the freshwater eels (F. Anguillidae).

In this post, I will take a look at a couple of little-known eel families, the spaghetti eels (F. Moringuidae) and false moray eels (F. Chlopsidae).

The spaghetti eels and false moray eels are widespread, and a number of species are found in shallow coastal waters of the tropics and subtropics, often close to densely populated areas. However, very little information about these 2 eel families is available online, and good luck in trying to find a photo of a live false moray eel; most of the photos I found of spaghetti eels and false moray eels were of preserved specimens on FishBase.

Apparently, the spaghetti eels are closely related to the freshwater eels, while the false moray eels are close relatives of the moray eels. Presumably, they share similar predatory habits with their more well-known kin. These 2 families are quite small, with only 14 described species of spaghetti eel, and 24 known species of false moray eel. Of course, it is likely that there are more species out there that have yet to be discovered.

Spaghetti eels are also commonly known as worm eels, but to avoid confusion with several snake eel species that go by the same name, I shall avoid calling them worm eels. They are found mostly in the Indo-Pacific, with a couple of species in the tropical western Atlantic.

Like many other eel families, spaghetti eels bury themselves in the day, emerging to feed on smaller creatures at night. Unlike other eels however, spaghetti eels burrow head-first; the pointed, heavily ossified skull and the reduced eyes are said to be adaptations for such a lifestyle. Compare this to the snake eels and the garden eels, which possess adaptations for burrowing tail-first (although some snake eel species are also adapted to some degree for head-first burrowing).

The largest species is the rusty spaghetti eel (Moringua ferruginea), which has been recorded at 1.4 metres, and the Java spaghetti eel (Moringua javanica), at 1.2 metres. Both species are widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Micronesia. Other spaghetti eel species don't even get half as long.


Rusty spaghetti eel, Easter Island;
(Photo by John E. Randall)

Some spaghetti eel species are known to enter brackish and freshwater environments; the common spaghetti eel (Moringua microchir) and the purple spaghetti eel (Moringua raitaborua) are among them.


Left: Common spaghetti eel;
(Photo by Christine Pöllabauer)
Right: Purple spaghetti eel;
(Photo by Dietmar Scholtz)

Although spaghetti eels do not appear to be heavily exploited for food, they do appear occasionally in the aquarium trade. So far, the only species which I have encountered in my online searches for spaghetti eels in aquaria are the aforementioned common spaghetti eel and purple spaghetti eel. Both species are offered as fish for the brackish water aquarium, although they are commonly sold as freshwater fish. Not much is available about their care, although like most other eels kept in aquaria, they would require plenty of hiding places to feel comfortable, a deep layer of fine substrate for them to burrow, and an escape-proof enclosure.


Left: Common spaghetti eel;
(Photo by Christine Pöllabauer)
Right: Purple spaghetti eel;
(Photo by Dietmar Scholtz)

Like the spaghetti eels, very little information on the false moray eels is available online. In fact, I think even less is known about them. Taking into account the fact that the bicolored false moray is known to live in the Mediterranean, and that this species, along with a few others, is also known from Florida and the Caribbean, it's really perplexing to find out that there's a great lack of information about false moray eels.


Head of bicolored false moray, Italy;
(Photo by Francesco Costa)

Externally, these eels do closely resemble moray eels, but based on the position of the nostrils, are thought to form a separate family. The family was once known as the Xenocongridae, and this is the family name used in many older texts. The largest species, the bicolored false moray, has been recorded at 42 centimetres; none of the other species exceed 30 centimetres in length. Like the moray eels, false moray eels are associated with reefs and rocky shores, although the bicolored false moray burrows in muddy patches of seabed, and a species from the western Atlantic, the seagrass eel (Chilorhinus suensonii), lives in sandy areas and seagrass beds. I couldn't find any information about their feeding habits, but my guess is that they are nocturnal predators on crustaceans, small fish, and cephalopods.

Within the Indo-Pacific region, the plain false moray (Kaupichthys diodontus) is widely distributed, from East Africa to Hawaii and Micronesia. However, there is some confusion as to whether it belongs to the same species as the common false moray (Kaupichthys hyoproroides), found in the western Atlantic. Some authors consider the 2 forms to be conspecific, whereas at least 1 researcher maintains that the 2 are separate species.


Plain false moray, Johnston Island;
(Photo by John E. Randall)


Sketch of plain false moray;

At this point, I've covered 7 eel families. There are actually quite a few more eel families, but I chose to focus on those families with species living in Southeast Asian waters, and which might conceivably be found living in the seas around Singapore. In fact, a great deal of eel diversity is to be found more than 200 metres beneath the surface, in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones.

The other eel families, such as the short-tail eels (F. Colocongridae), longneck eels (F. Derichthyidae), red eels (F. Myrocongridae), snipe eels (F. Nemichthyidae), and sawtooth eels (F. Serrivomeridae) are found exclusively in the ocean depths, whereas the mud eels (F. Heterenchelyidae), duckbill eels (F. Nettastomatidae), cutthroat eels (F. Synaphobranchidae) are predominantly deep ocean dwellers, but have representatives which inhabit shallow coastal waters. However, I did not talk about these families because the species living in shallow waters are not found in Southeast Asia.

Coming up in my final post in this series, anyone diving, fishing, or exploring the shore or river might encounter a long, eel-like creature. But is it necessarily an eel?

Part 1: Moray eels (Muraenidae)
Part 2: Snake eels (Ophichthidae)
Part 3: Conger eels (Congridae) and Pike conger eels (Muraenesocidae)
Part 4: Freshwater eels (Anguillidae)
Part 5: Spaghetti eels (Moringuidae) and false moray eels (Chlopsidae) (this post)
Part 6: Non-eels

Freshwater eels (Anguillidae)

European eel, Spiegelplas;
(Photo by Arne Kuilman)

Over the last few posts, I have talked about the moray eels (F. Muraenidae), snake eels (F. Ophichthidae), conger eels (F. Congridae) and pike conger eels (F. Muraenesocidae). However, for people living in the temperate parts of North America, Europe, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, where it comes to discussion of eels, the species that immediately springs to mind would most probably be 1 of the various species of freshwater eel (F. Anguillidae).

While many species of eel from other families are able to enter brackish and freshwater, and some even spend their entire lives in freshwater, it is the freshwater eels that are most famous for their ability to make the transition from a freshwater to a marine environment, and vice versa.

The most well-known species of freshwater eel is the European eel.


European eel;
(Photo by Ron Offermans)


European eels at Planet Neptune Oceanarium, St. Petersburg;

Elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, its counterpart on the other side of the Atlantic is the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), while the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is found in East Asia.


Head of American eel;
(Photo taken from DCNature)

Along the east coast of Australia, south to Tasmania, live 2 species of freshwater eel, the shortfin eel (Anguilla australis) and Australian longfin eel (Anguilla reinhardtii). Both species also inhabit New Zealand, which has its own endemic freshwater eel species, the New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii).


Shortfin eels at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Christchurch;
(Photo by karenmdnz)
New Zealand longfin eel at Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre, Wairarapa;
(Photo by newtestleopard)

While most freshwater eel species can exceed 1 metre in length, with several species reaching 1.5 metres, the Australian longfin eel is the giant of the family, with a specimen having been recorded at 2 metres.


Australian longfin eel, Sydney;
(Photos by cskk and nikp044)

Although the most well-known freshwater eel species are those found in temperate regions, a large number of freshwater eel species actually live in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, from East Africa to India, Southeast Asia, and the islands of the South Pacific. Some species that can be found in Southeast Asian waters include the Indian mottled eel (Anguilla bengalensis), Indonesian shortfin eel (Anguilla bicolor), and marbled eel (Anguilla marmorata).


Marbled eel, Laos;
(Photo by Terry Warren)

The 18 species of freshwater eel are catadromous, which means that they live in freshwater as adults, but breed in saltwater. When sexually mature and ready to breed, freshwater eels stop feeding entirely; this journey is powered entirely by the stored fat reserves in their bodies. They swim downstream until they reach the sea. No obstacle seems insurmountable; eels trapped in lakes and ponds, or those that find their way blocked by dams or other barriers, will even travel overland at night, wriggling along until they find an unobstructed route to the sea. Their bodies gradually change as they enter the marine environment. Their eyes enlarge, enabling them to see in the dim light of the ocean depths. Their bodies take on a silvery sheen, providing countershading to protect themselves from oceanic predators as they travel to their spawning grounds. Due to this change in coloration, eels in this stage of life are known as 'silver eels'.

Based on what we know about some of the more well-known species, each species appears to have its own specific spawning ground; for the European eel and American eel, it is the Sargasso Sea. For the Japanese eel, its spawning ground is to the west of the Mariana Islands. The shortfin eel, Australian longfin eel and New Zealand longfin eel spawn in the southwest Pacific, around New Caledonia. There is still much to discover about the reproduction and life history of these eels; we do not know how the adults manage to find their spawning grounds, for example, nor has anyone ever observed the eels pairing up and spawning. It is believed that after spawning, the eels, having used up the last of their reserves, die.

The eel larva (known as a leptocephalus) spends some time following the ocean currents, before swimming closer inland and changing into the next stage of its life cycle, the glass eel, named for its semi-transparent body.


Leptocephalus stage of Japanese eel.


Glass eel stage of American eel.

As the glass eels grow, they enters freshwater and travel upstream, often in huge numbers. The following photos of young American eels, taken from the excellent Taunton River Journal, clearly illustrate that the young eels' journey is no less arduous than that undertaken by their parents.


Mass of glass eels below a dam.

Once again, no obstacle seems insurmountable; the tiny baby eels swarm over barriers, or emerge from the water to crawl overland, even scaling low waterfalls and the vertical walls of dams. As they continue to grow, they gradually develop pigmentation, and are now known as elvers.


Mass of elvers and glass eels.


Left: Glass eels and elvers emerging from the water to scale the wall of a dam.
Right: Glass eels climbing vertical wall.

The eels' journey ends when they find a suitable area for them to settle down, one with an ample supply of food and with adequate hiding places. Eels will travel overland to reach lakes and ponds, or enter underwater tunnels to reach water bodies otherwise cut off from other rivers or streams. Once established in a suitable habitat, they mature into adults (known as 'yellow eels'), and will feed on a wide array of smaller creatures, ranging from insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs, to fish and frogs. After at least a decade, depending on the species, the now sexually mature eels make the return trip to the sea, back to where their journey began so many years before, thousands of kilometres away. Some individuals never make the trip back to the ocean; instead, they remain where they are, and continue to feed and grow. A study of otoliths (bones in the ear) indicates that some New Zealand longfin eels may live for as long as 100 years!

Jellyman, D. J. 1995. Longevity of longfinned eels Anguilla dieffenbachii in a New Zealand high country lake. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 4(3), 106-112.

Eel life history


Freshwater eel life cycle

Many freshwater eel species are displayed in public aquaria, usually in the countries where they are native. And so, North American aquariums may display American eels, while New Zealand aquariums may display New Zealand longfin eels.


Left: New Zealand longfin eel at Otago Museum, Dunedin;
(Photo by impactdixon)
Right: New Zealand longfin eel at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, Auckland;
(Photo by coderkv)

Quite a few species of freshwater eel, such as the American eel and Japanese eel, are also offered in the aquarium trade from time to time. Like their marine cousins, these eels will need lots of space and hiding places, and a secure lid to prevent escape. In captivity, they can live for a very long time; a female European eel named Putte that died in 1948 at the Hälsingborg Museum, Sweden, was said to be 88 years old.


Apparently, some people living in parts of New Zealand have 'pet' eels which reside in ponds and creeks near their homes.
(Photo by Happysmurfday)

Interestingly enough, while doing research for this post, I discovered that freshwater eels can become surprisingly tame around people. In New Zealand, visitors to several parks and nature areas can actually feed the eels. The eels eagerly congregate at the water's edge, and will even wriggle onto land to take food from people's hands.


Feeding the shortfin eels at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Christchurch;
(Photos by arjones and kboardmoran)

It's a lot like how people in Singapore love to feed the fish in our ponds, but I guess the feeding programs in New Zealand are meant to help sensitise people to the need to protect eels, especially the endemic longfin eel.


Left: Eel feeding at Waitomo;
(Photo by milkthebasic)
Right: Eel feeding at Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki;
(Photo by nrsa1)

However, the most important use of freshwater eels is as food. Virtually every species of freshwater eel supports some sort of fishery. Eels are commonly smoked before consumption, while jellied eels is a traditional English dish. Even the young glass eels and elvers are eaten as a delicacy.

Of course, no post about eels as food is complete without mention of unagi (鰻). I am very fond of unagi myself, although I am quite reluctant to indulge my cravings in future, now that I have learnt about the unsustainability of unagi.

A number of freshwater eel species are experiencing population declines, due to a combination of pollution, interference with migration, overfishing, and in the case of the European eel, the accidental introduction of a parasitic nematode worm (Anguillicola crassus) from East Asia. Most of the unagi originates from eels raised and fattened on farms. However, these eels were caught from the wild as glass eels, so technically, wild stocks are still being depleted, and in fact, are being deprived of potential breeders. These farms also create numerous other problems, from harvesting of vast quantities of fish in order to feed the eels, to pollution of wetlands due to the large amounts of waste released by these farms, to the spread of diseases to wild populations.


Farming of Japanese eel, Shizuoka;
(Photo by Charles Helsley)

The demand for unagi is so great that even European eel and American eel are being harvested, in addition to the Japanese eel. Both the European and American eels are already threatened to some degree by pollution and damming, and the harvesting of eels for the Japanese market definitely isn't helping to boost the wild population. In fact, European eel numbers are said to be dangerously close to collapse, with populations having plummeted by more than 90%. Similarly, the American and Japanese eels have undergone dramatic declines. The Australian and New Zealand species are also being exploited for the Japanese market, although it remains to be seen if the fisheries for these species can be managed well enough to minimise the risk of overexploitation.


Unagi don
(Photo by Fenchurch!)

Coming up in the final post in this series, I will briefly talk about 2 little-known eel families, the false morays (F. Chlopsidae) and spaghetti eels (F. Moringuidae). Also, stay tuned for a bunch of eel-like fish that actually aren't eels at all.

Part 1: Moray eels (Muraenidae)
Part 2: Snake eels (Ophichthidae)
Part 3: Conger eels (Congridae) and Pike conger eels (Muraenesocidae)
Part 4: Freshwater eels (Anguillidae) (this post)
Part 5: Spaghetti eels (Moringuidae) and false moray eels (Chlopsidae)
Part 6: Non-eels

Conger eels (Congridae) and Pike conger eels (Muraenesocidae)

Left: European conger (Conger conger), Dorset;
(Photo by Wreckferret)
Right: Daggertooth pike conger (Muraenesox cinereus), Izu;
(Photo by UmizaruGoh)

Previously, I talked about the moray eels (F. Muraenidae), which are star attractions for divers all over the world, and the snake eels (F. Ophichthidae), which are not as charismatic, but still attract some attention. This post will talk about 2 other families of eels which will be less familiar to people diving in Southeast Asian waters, the conger eels (F. Congridae) and the pike conger eels (F. Muraenesocidae).

Conger eels are not familiar to us living in Southeast Asia, although those living in temperate countries might have encountered various species of conger eels in fish markets.

Conger eels are a widespread family of 150 known species, distributed in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. A great deal of species are found only in the ocean depths, so very little is known about these deepwater species.


European conger at Lake District Coast Aquarium, Maryport;
(Photo by Nick Landells)

The most familiar conger eel species is the European conger, which lives in the eastern Atlantic, from Norway and Iceland, to the Mediterranean and Black Sea, to Senegal in West Africa. While it is known to inhabit shallow inshore waters, it has also been recorded to occur at great depths, more than a kilometre beneath the surface. While it lives near the coast when young, as the European conger grows older, it moves into deeper waters. The European conger is also the largest member of its family, and is known to reach 3 metres in length.


European conger caught at Loch Etive, Scotland;
(Photo by Fishing-Argyll)

Other members of the genus are found along the Atlantic coasts of North and South America, in southern Africa, along the coast of East Asia, and in Australia and New Zealand as well. These are among the few conger eel species that can be found in inshore waters, and most of these inshore species support some sort of fishery. While the European conger can be found in fish markets throughout Europe, its counterpart in North America is the American conger (Conger oceanicus). The southern conger (Conger verreauxi) supports fisheries in southern Australia and New Zealand, as does the cape conger (Conger wilsoni), which is also found in the waters around off South Africa.

The commercially important conger eel species in Japan is the white-spotted conger (Conger myriaster). It is marketed as anago (穴子), to differentiate it from the more familiar unagi (鰻), which comes from freshwater eels (F. Anguillidae).


White-spotted conger, Tsukiji Fish Market;
(Photo by CharleyMarley)

Conger eels inhabit rocky areas, lurking amongst rocks and caves, and are fond of shipwrecks. They emerge to feed at night, preying upon fish, crustaceans and octopus. I guess you could say that they are very similar to moray eels in that regard. And just like moray eels in tropical waters, those who dive in temperate seas are often drawn to large conger eels. Conger eels are also often displayed in public aquaria.


European conger, Ireland;
(Photo by mkrzysztofowicz)

It is believed that conger eels migrate to spawn in the deep sea, where they then die. Like other eel families, conger eels start out as tiny transparent larvae known as leptocephali. In Japan, the leptocephali of the white-spotted conger are known as noresore (のれそれ), and are actually eaten as a seasonal delicacy in certain prefectures.


Noresore

While the majority of tropical conger eel species live in the ocean depths, there are species which do inhabit shallow inshore waters, although they don't seem to be as well-known as their relatives from temperate climates.

The moustache conger (Conger cinereus) is widespread throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, ranging from East Africa and the Red Sea in the west, all the way to Hawaii in the east. It earns its common name from the prominent and well-developed flanges on the upper lips.


Moustache conger, Hawaii;
(Photo by jbarc)


Moustache conger, Hawaii;
(Photo by shappell)

This species is known to occur in Southeast Asian waters, and although I cannot find a list of conger eel species recorded in Singapore, I won't be surprised if there are moustache congers living in the seas around Singapore.

Another conger eel that might be encountered by divers in the region is the barred conger (Poeciloconger fasciatus). This reef-associated species is similar to the snake eels, in that it buries itself in the sand during the day.


Usually, this is all that people ever see of this eel.
Barred conger, Hawaii;
(Photo by mauiscubasteve2)


The barred conger gets its name from the brown bars on its body.
Barred conger, Hawaii;
(Photo by doctorkb)

However, there are members of the conger eel family which are found in shallow tropical waters, but which look and behave quite differently from the conger eels which we have looked at. These are the 33 species of garden eels, which form the subfamily Heterocongrinae.

Garden eels were once thought to form a separate family of their own (F. Heterocongridae), but now it is thought that they are in fact a subfamily of the conger eels. There are 2 genera, Gorgasia and Heteroconger, distributed in warm waters of the Indo-Pacific, with a handful found in the tropical Atlantic.

The largest species of garden eel grows up to 1.2 metres in length, although most species are less than 1 metre. These eels live in large colonies in sandy areas and seagrass beds exposed to currents. Using its hard and stiffened tail, a garden eel digs a long tubular burrow in the sand, which is held together by the slime secreted by the eel. Once its burrow is built, a garden eel almost never leave their burrows, even to feed. It emerges to feed on zooplankton and smaller creatures drifting in the currents above, and even so, its tail still remains safely hidden in the burrow.


White-spotted garden eel (Gorgasia maculata), Sabah;
(Photo by Coppertane)

The sight of hundreds of these long slender eels, poking up from the seabed, their bodies swaying in the current, does look like some bizarre undersea garden.


Colony of white-spotted garden eel, Dumaguete;
(Photo by Mickle Huang)

Should they be disturbed, the garden eels instantly retreat into their burrows. Being extremely shy and skittish, they present a real challenge for divers trying to photograph them.


Spotted garden eel (Heteroconger hassi), Palau;
(Photo by t_bretl)


A photo of an individual spotted garden eel, Christmas Island;
(Photo by Rob Hughes)

I couldn't find much information about how garden eels reproduce, although some sites say that these eels don't leave their burrows even to mate; individual eels merely reach over and find a neighbour of the opposite sex, intertwine their bodies together, and release their eggs and sperm simultaneously.


Mixed-species exhibit of spotted garden eel and splendid garden eel at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Okinawa;
(Photo by pelican)

Garden eels are quite popular in public aquaria, where the most commonly exhibited species are the spotted garden eel and splendid garden eel (Gorgasia preclara).


Splendid garden eel at Underwater World Singapore, Sentosa;
(Photo by Ko@la *('O')*)

The 2 species are often displayed in a mixed-species exhibit, although I have my doubts as to whether both species would actually be found living together in a mixed colony in the wild.


Mixed-species exhibit of spotted garden eel and splendid garden eel at Underwater World Singapore, Sentosa;
(Photo by DanceMacabre)

Garden eels do pop up from time to time in the aquarium trade. Obviously, they require aquariums with a deep layer of sand that enables them to burrow. Even though they live in large groups, they are still territorial and fiercely protective of the area immediately around their burrows, so a captive colony of garden eels should have adequate space, both horizontal and vertical, for each eel. While these eels won't try to eat crustaceans or other fish too big to fit into their mouths, they are vulnerable to harassment from aggressive tankmates. They will also need a current that will bring them a regular supply of plankton and tiny crustaceans. As can be seen, these are fish best left to the experts.

Moving on, we shall look at another family of eels with representatives in Southeast Asia, the pike conger eels.

In the post which helped inspire this series on eels, the person who submitted the article to STOMP identified the eels in his photos as pike conger, even though they appear to be moray eels.

So, what exactly is a pike conger eel? Why is its name a combination of pike (Esox spp.) and conger eel? We've already looked at conger eels, but what similarities do pike conger eels share with the fearsome freshwater predatory fish known as pikes (F. Esocidae)?

Compared to moray eels, snake eels, and conger eels, pike conger eels are a much less diverse group, with only 13 described species found across the tropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Ranging from 60 centimetres to 2.5 metres in length, these predators are found over a wide range of habitats; some inhabit estuaries and coastal waters, whereas others are found only in the ocean depths, more than 300 metres beneath the surface.


I think the fish in this photo are some sort of pike conger eel.
(Photo by washako16)

I could not find anything about the behaviour of these fish, nor could I find any photos of live pike conger eels besides the 2 that I've shown so far. Based on the photo of the daggertooth pike conger with its head poking up from the sediment, I would presume that like snake eels, some species of pike conger eel bury themselves in the seabed during the day, emerging at night to feed on fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. Their mouths are filled with long sharp teeth, enabling them to get a good grip on wriggling prey.


The toothy grin of a common pike conger (Muraenesox bagio).
(Photo by Ian Merrington)

Most of the members of the family grow to quite large sizes; the smallest species reaches a length of 60 centimetres. The largest species is the Indian pike conger (Congresox talabonoides), with a length of 2.5 metres. The common pike conger, daggertooth pike conger, red pike conger (Cynoponticus coniceps) and Guinea pike conger (Cynoponticus ferox) are other species that can reach 2 metres in length.

Some species support commercial fisheries; these include the yellow pike conger (Congresox talabon), Indian pike conger, red pike conger, Guinea pike conger, Guayana pike conger (Cynoponticus savanna), common pike conger and daggertooth pike conger. The daggertooth pike conger features in Japanese cuisine, where it is known as hamo (鱧).


3 commercially important species of pike conger eel.
Left: Indian pike conger, Singapore;
(Photo by Eileen Chua)
Centre Guayana pike conger, Guianas;
(Photo by Keiichi Matsuura)
Right: Common pike conger, Pakistan;
(Photo by Mohammed Moazzam Khan)

Locally, we haven't encountered pike conger eels on our shore trips, although I do know that at least 2 species, the Indian pike conger and common pike conger, are known to occur in our waters.

Coming up next, the epic journey of the freshwater eels and the unsustainable demand for unagi.

Part 1: Moray eels (Muraenidae)
Part 2: Snake eels (Ophichthidae)
Part 3: Conger eels (Congridae) and Pike conger eels (Muraenesocidae) (this post)
Part 4: Freshwater eels (Anguillidae)
Part 5: Spaghetti eels (Moringuidae) and false moray eels (Chlopsidae)
Part 6: Non-eels