Blachea xenobranchialis Karrer & Smith, 1980
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
Blachea xenobranchialis, the frillgill conger is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels), and the type species in the genus Blachea. It was described by Christine Karrer and David G. Smith in 1980. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from northwestern Australia, in the Indo-West Pacific. It dwells at a depth range of 348–385 metres, and leads a benthic lifestyle, inhabiting continental shelves and slopes. Males can reach a maximum total length of 47.5 centimetres, while females can reach a maximum TL of 37.5 cm.
The species epithet "xenobranchialis" means "strange gill" in Ancient Greek, and refers to the eel's unusual free branchiostegals.
Wikipedia contributors, Blachea xenobranchialis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:10:57.263984+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Blachea xenobranchialis Karrer & Smith, 1980
- Name authority
- Karrer & Smith, 1980
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Congridae
- Genus
- Blachea
- 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
- genusBlachea Karrer & Smith, 1980
- speciesBlachea xenobranchialis Karrer & Smith, 1980
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Blachea. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Blachea semeniformis Schwarzhans, 2019 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
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.
- Karrer, C., & Smith, D. G. (1980). A new genus and species of congrid eel from the Indo-west Pacific. Copeia 1980(4):642-648. https://doi.org/10.2307/1444440 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:5WKJ8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.