Bucktooth conger

This marine fish belongs to the order Anguilliformes, family Conger eels, subfamily Anguinidae, subfamily Conger eels. It is found in the Pacific coast south of Hokkaido, the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan south of Aomori Prefecture, the East China Sea, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, the coast of Guangdong Province, the Emperor Seamount Chain, and the Hawaiian Ridge. It is also known as the Flying Eel. The body is cylindrical at the front and laterally compressed at the tail. The anus is located forward of the center of the body. The mouth is of average size, and the rear end of the upper jaw reaches below the center of the eye. The lower jaw is short, and when the mouth is closed, the teeth of the premaxilla are exposed. The groove of the upper lip is shallow, and there is a narrow free edge on the edge of the upper lip. There are several rows of small conical teeth on the main maxilla. There are 29 to 35 lateral line holes in front of the anus, which are located above the pectoral fin and above the lateral line canal. The dorsal fin begins above the center of the pectoral fin, and the anal fin begins just behind the anus, and the two join at the tail. All fin rays are segmented. There are 117-124 vertebrae. The body is silvery brown with a silvery white ventral surface. The dorsal and anal fins have black edges. It reaches a total length of 45 centimeters. It lives on sandy and muddy bottoms at depths of 145-580 meters and is caught with bottom trawls. It is used as an ingredient in fish paste products. The pseudoginanago G. ginanago , which is very similar to this species, can be distinguished from this species by having 35-40 lateral line pores in front of the anus, lateral line pores above the pectoral fins that are located below the lateral line canal, and by having 126-134 vertebrae.

[Hirotoshi Asano and Kunio Amagaoka February 18, 2019]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱ウナギ目アナゴ科クロアナゴ亜科に属する海水魚。北海道以南の太平洋沿岸、青森県以南の日本海沿岸、東シナ海、朝鮮半島、台湾、広東(カントン)省沿岸、天皇海山列、ハワイ海嶺(かいれい)などに分布する。別名はトビアナゴ。体は前部では円筒形で、尾部では側扁(そくへん)する。肛門(こうもん)は体の中央よりも前方にある。口は普通大で、上顎(じょうがく)の後端は目の中央下に達する。下顎は短く、口を閉じると前上顎骨の歯は露出する。上唇の溝は浅く、上唇の縁辺に幅の狭い遊離縁がある。主上顎骨に小さい円錐歯(えんすいし)が数列ある。肛門より前の側線孔は29～35個で、胸びれの上方で側線孔は側線管の上方に位置する。背びれは胸びれの中央部の上方から、臀(しり)びれは肛門の直後から始まり、両者は尾端でつながる。すべての鰭条(きじょう)に分節がある。脊椎(せきつい)骨数は117～124。体は銀褐色で、腹面は銀白色。背びれと臀びれの縁辺は黒い。全長45センチメートルに達する。水深145～580メートルの砂泥底にすみ、底引網で漁獲される。練り製品の原料になる。本種によく似たニセギンアナゴG. ginanagoは肛門前の側線孔数が35～40であること、胸びれの上方の側線孔は側線管の下方に位置すること、脊椎骨数は126～134であることなどで本種と区別できる。

［浅野博利・尼岡邦夫　2019年2月18日］

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