''Myroconger'' is the only genus of
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s, the thin eels, in the family Myrocongridae. Very little is known about the group.
Until recently, only a single specimen from this family was known. This individual had been caught off
Saint Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
in 1868. In the 1990s and 2000s, deep-sea submersibles identified several more individuals, including four further species.
The first known species, ''M. compressus'', was bright red in colour, but not all other species share this trait.
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:
* ''
Myroconger compressus''
Günther, 1870 (red eel)
* ''
Myroconger gracilis''
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
, 1991
* ''
Myroconger nigrodentatus''
Castle & Béarez, 1995 (orange eel)
*''
Myroconger pietschi''
* ''
Myroconger prolixus''
Castle & Béarez, 1995
* ''
Myroconger seychellensis''
Karmovskaya, 2006
References
Eels
Taxa named by Albert Günther
{{Anguilliformes-stub