whiptail conger
Rhynchoconger gracilior (Ginsburg, 1951)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The whiptail conger (Rhynchoconger gracilior), also known as the conger eel in Cuba, is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). It was described by Isaac Ginsburg in 1951, originally under the genus Congrina. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the western Atlantic Ocean, including the United States in the northern Gulf of Mexico and northern South America. It is known to dwell at a depth of 203 meters (666 ft). Males can reach a maximum total length of 61 centimeters (24 in).
Wikipedia contributors, Whiptail conger; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:12:13.285220+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rhynchoconger gracilior (Ginsburg, 1951)
- Name authority
- (Ginsburg, 1951)
- Common name
- whiptail conger
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Congridae
- Genus
- Rhynchoconger
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnguilliformes
- familyCongridae Kaup, 1856
- subfamilyCongrinae Kaup, 1856
- genusRhynchoconger Jordan & Hubbs, 1925
- speciesRhynchoconger gracilior (Ginsburg, 1951)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Rhynchoconger. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| yellow congerRhynchoconger flavus (Goode & Bean, 1896) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rhynchoconger ectenurus (Jordan & Richardson, 1909) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rhynchoconger bicoloratus Kodeeswaran, Mohapatra, Kumar & Lal, 2023 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rhynchoconger eocenicus (Shepherd, 1916) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Rhynchoconger guppyi (Norman, 1925) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| needletail congerRhynchoconger nitens (Jordan & Bollman, 1890) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rhynchoconger squaliceps (Alcock, 1894) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rhynchoconger trewavasae Ben-Tuvia, 1993 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Congrina gracilior Ginsburg, 1951 Ginsburg, 1951 | synonym |
| Hildebrandia gracilior (Ginsburg, 1951) (Ginsburg, 1951) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158572 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4SRNH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.