Ariosoma mellissii (Günther, 1870)
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 silver eel (Ariosoma mellissii), also known as the Melliss's conger, is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). It was described by Albert Günther in 1870. It is a rare tropical, marine eel which is known solely from St. Helena, in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is known to dwell at a maximum depth of 67 meters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 42.8 centimetres.
Named in honor of John Charles Melliss (1835-1911), amateur naturalist and government surveyor on St. Helena (island in the South Atlantic), who presented the type specimen to the British Museum (Natural History).
Wikipedia contributors, Silver eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:03:49.745122+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ariosoma mellissii (Günther, 1870)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1870)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Congridae
- Genus
- Ariosoma
- 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
- subfamilyBathymyrinae Böhlke, 1949
- genusAriosoma Swainson, 1838
- speciesAriosoma mellissii (Günther, 1870)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ariosoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ariosoma ophidiophthalmus Karmovskaya, 1991 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma dolichopterum Karmovskaya, 2015 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma emmae Smith & Ho, 2018 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma gnanadossi Talwar & Mukherjee, 1977 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma majus (Asano, 1958) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma gracile Kodeeswaran, Kathirvelpandian, Mohapatra, Kumar & Sarkar, 2024 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma indicum Kodeeswaran, Kathirvelpandian, Acharya, Mohanty, Mohapatra, Kumar & Lal, 2022 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma maurostigma Kodeeswaran, Mohapatra, Dhinakaran, Kumar & Lal, 2022 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma anago (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma anagoides (Bleeker, 1853) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| bandtooth congerAriosoma balearicum (Delaroche, 1809) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ariosoma bauchotae Karrer, 1983 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Ariosoma mellissi (Günther, 1870) (Günther, 1870) | synonym |
| Congromuraena mellissii Günther, 1870 Günther, 1870 | 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=271728 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:GMYL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.