Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Congridae (Conger and garden eels) > Heterocongrinae
Etymology: Heteroconger: Greek, heteros = other + Latin, conger = conger (Ref. 45335); mercyae: Named for Mercy Paine, who discovered the eel colony and helped us collect the type specimens.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 4 - 10 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical, preferred ?

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Pacific: Philippines, Indonesia (Kaiman, West Papua), but likely to occur as far east as Rabaul, New Britain (based on an underwater photo).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 67.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 82435)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 578-629; Anal soft rays: 390 - 432; Vertebrae: 204 - 213. This relatively slender species has the following distinct set of characters: dorsal-fin origin anterior to gill opening; with pterygoid teeth; body depth at gill opening 28.8-35.2% of HL; preanal vertebrae 62-71 (mean = 65), total vertebrae 204-213 (mean 207.4) ; preanal lateral-line pores 63-69; body colouration consisting of zebra-like black and white barring on head grading to complex black and white maze pattern on body (Ref. 82435).

Collected from a single colony, occupying about 100 sq. m with approximately 50 eels at 5-6 m depth. The bottom is fine, silty sand and influenced by a freshwater stream along the adjacent shoreline, about 100 m distance, with the nearest reef formation about 50 m from the site (Ref. 82435).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann, 2009. Heteroconger mercyae, a new species of garden eel (Congridae: Heterocongrinae) from West Papua, Indonesia. Aqua, Intl. J. Ichthyol. 15(3):135-142. (Ref. 82435)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Not Evaluated

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki |

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Internet sources

Heteroconger mercyae Allen & Erdmann, 2009