The Muraenesocidae, or pike congers, are a small family of marine
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 found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas.
Some species are known to enter brackish water.
Pike congers have cylindrical bodies, scaleless skin, narrow heads with large eyes, and strong teeth. Their
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...
s start above the well-developed
pectoral fin
Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...
s. These rather aggressive fish range from in length.
Genera
About 15 known species are recognized in 6 genera:
* Genus ''
Congresox
''Congresox'' is a 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 larv ...
''
* Genus ''
Cynoponticus
''Cynoponticus'' is a small genus of eels found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is one of four genera in the family Muraenesocidae. It currently has three described species, which were formerly in the genus ''Muraenesox''. Members are found in ...
''
* Genus ''
Gavialiceps
''Gavialiceps'' is a genus of eels in the pike conger family, Muraenesocidae
The Muraenesocidae, or pike congers, are a small family of marine eels found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. Some species are known to enter brackish water ...
''
* Genus ''
Muraenesox
Muraenesox is a small genus of eels found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It currently has two described species as most species have been moved to other genera. Members are found in the Indo-West Pacific.
Species
* '' Muraenesox bagio'' ( F. Ha ...
''
* Genus ''
Oxyconger
''Oxyconger leptognathus'', the Shorttail pike conger, is an eel in the family Muraenesocidae. It is the only member of its genus. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's fiv ...
''
* Genus ''
Sauromuraenesox''
References
*A Dictionary of Zoology 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999.
Marine fish families
Eels
Ray-finned fish families
{{Anguilliformes-stub