European Conger
Conger conger
Conger eels
conger
About
Conger eels are a group that includes both large hunting eels and small garden eels that live in colonies on the sand. In this app the group includes the European Conger, the Spotted Garden-eel, and the Brown Garden Eel.
How to tell it apart
A smooth, scaleless eel body without strong patterning suggests a conger eel rather than a snake eel or moray, though there are few sure marks to tell them apart at a glance. Garden eels are easy to pick out: they live in groups, each poking out of its own burrow in the sand like plants in a garden.
Appearance
Conger eels have a scaleless body and, in most species, pectoral fins near the head. The group covers a wide size range: garden eels are small and thin, while the European conger is the largest, growing up to about 3 metres long. They live in tropical, subtropical, and temperate seas.
Is it dangerous?
generally harmless if not provoked — can bite if cornered
Did you know?
Garden eels live in large colonies on the sand, with each eel keeping most of its body hidden in its own burrow, so a whole patch of seabed can look like it is covered in swaying plants.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
