Freckled pike-conger facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Freckled pike-conger
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Nettastomatidae
Genus:	Hoplunnis
Species:	H. macrura
Binomial name
Hoplunnis macrura Ginsburg, 1951
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Synonyms
Hoplunnis macrurus Ginsburg, 1951

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".The freckled pike-conger (Hoplunnis macrura), also called the silver conger, is a type of eel. It belongs to the Nettastomatidae family, which are sometimes called duckbill or witch eels. This eel was first described by a scientist named Isaac Ginsburg in 1951.

The freckled pike-conger lives in the Atlantic Ocean, mostly in the western central part. You can find it in places like the Gulf of Mexico, near Colombia, and close to where the Amazon River meets the ocean. These eels prefer warm, subtropical waters. They live deep underwater, usually between 55 and 310 meters (about 180 to 1,017 feet) below the surface. Male freckled pike-congers can grow up to 54.2 centimeters (about 21 inches) long.

What Do Silver Congers Eat?

Silver congers are carnivores, meaning they eat other animals. Their diet mainly includes small fish that live in the ocean. They also enjoy eating small creatures that live on the seafloor. These seafloor animals are called benthic invertebrates. Some examples of what they eat are shrimp and crabs.

Where Silver Congers Live

Silver congers, or Hoplunnis macrura, like to live in deeper parts of the ocean. They prefer areas with warm, subtropical climates. These eels do not dig burrows or hide in holes or cracks on the seafloor. Instead, they live in places where the ocean floor is soft.

Adult silver congers are found in several regions:

• The Gulf of Mexico: From the Florida Keys all the way to Campeche, Mexico.
• The western Atlantic Ocean: Along the east coast of the United States.
• The Caribbean Sea: Near the border between Honduras and Nicaragua.
• South America: From Colombia down to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil.

Young silver conger larvae have been found in different places too. They have been collected off the coast of Barbados, North Carolina, and the Scotian Shelf. This shows how far their young can travel in the ocean currents.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

The eggs of the silver conger are pelagic. This means they float freely in the water. They stay in the water column as they develop. This allows them to be fertilized and grow into young eels.

How to Identify a Silver Conger

Silver congers have a long, thin body shape. Their color is a light yellowish-brown. They have tiny spots on their back, which is called their dorsal side. Their fins that stick up (vertical fins) have black markings.

They have jaws that stick out a bit, with teeth of different sizes. You can see these teeth even when their mouth is closed. Inside their mouth, they have two rows of teeth: an inner row and an outer row. The teeth on their bottom jaw are usually bigger than the ones on their top jaw. They also have a special line along their side, called a lateral line. This line has 32 to 37 small pores (tiny holes) before their anus. These pores help them sense changes in water pressure and movement.

Importance to People

The silver conger is not known to be important to humans. People do not usually fish for them. They are not traded or used for any commercial purposes. These eels are harmless to humans.