Coloconger giganteus (Castle, 1959)
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 giant leptocephalus (Coloconger giganteus) is a species of eel. It was first described by Peter Henry John Castle in 1959. It is a marine, deep-water dwelling eel which is distributed worldwide. It was thought that if it was indeed a leptocephalid, then it is probably the larvae of a Notacanthus species, most probably Notacanthus chemnitzii. However, in 2014, it was confirmed as a species of Coloconger.
Wikipedia contributors, Giant leptocephalus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:23:19.964923+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Coloconger giganteus (Castle, 1959)
- Name authority
- (Castle, 1959)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Colocongridae
- Genus
- Coloconger
- 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
- familyColocongridae Smith, 1976
- genusColoconger Alcock, 1889
- speciesColoconger giganteus (Castle, 1959)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Coloconger. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Coloconger paucitubus Ho, Smith & Pogonoski, 2025 | ColocongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Coloconger canina (Castle & Raju, 1975) | ColocongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Coloconger meadi Kanazawa, 1957 | ColocongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Coloconger cadenati Kanazawa, 1961 | ColocongridaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Leptocephalus giganteus Castle, 1959 Castle, 1959 | synonym |
| Ascomana giganteus (Castle, 1959) (Castle, 1959) | 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=277414 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:X72H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.