Conger

Conger conger

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth15–184 m
Water temperature9–23 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Julien Tchilinguirian, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The European conger is a species of conger of the family Congridae. It is the heaviest eel in the world and native to the northeast Atlantic, including the Mediterranean Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “European conger”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 145 records
February: 235 records
March: 781 records
April: 588 records
May: 1,274 records
June: 1,543 records
July: 822 records
August: 962 records
September: 1,592 records
October: 2,589 records
November: 4,644 records
December: 626 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–184 m · Deepest record: 2,701 m

0–10 m: 349 records
10–20 m: 2,050 records
20–30 m: 1,064 records
30–40 m: 781 records
40–50 m: 668 records
50–60 m: 1,358 records
60–70 m: 1,436 records
70–80 m: 1,047 records
80–90 m: 641 records
90–100 m: 529 records
100–110 m: 248 records
110+ m: 2,939 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–23 °C

8–10 °C: 7 records
10–12 °C: 72 records
12–14 °C: 331 records
14–16 °C: 185 records
16–18 °C: 131 records
18–20 °C: 109 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 5 records

Photos

(c) Libby Keatley, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Loïc Chalmandrier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luke Lythgoe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John Hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Conger, Conger eel, European conger, conger, conger eel, Congers, Eel, European conger, Conger Eel, European Conger Eel, sea eel

Names in 4 more languages

German: Conger, Congeraal, Gemeiner meeraal, Meeraal
Spanish: Congre Safio, congrio, Congrio, Côngrio, Congrio Commun, congrio común, Congrio común, Culebra, Negrillo, Safio
French: Anguille de Mer, congre, Congre, Congre commun, congre d'Europe, Congre d'Europe, Congre d’Europe, Coungre negre, Coungre Nègre, Felat, Fiélà, Fielas, Grongu, Mourna-grounch, Orratza
Japanese: ヨーロッパアナゴ

Other scientific names: Anguilla conger, Anguilla obtusa, Conger communis, Conger niger, Conger rubescens, Conger verus, Conger vulgaris, Leptocephalus candidissimus, Leptocephalus conger, Leptocephalus gussoni, Leptocephalus inaequalis, Leptocephalus lineatus, Leptocephalus morrisii, Leptocephalus pellucidus, Leptocephalus spallanzani, Leptocephalus stenops, Leptocephalus vitreus, Muraena conger, Muraena nigra, Ophidium pellucidum, Ophisoma obtusa

Similar species

Longfin African conger
Conger cinereus
Whitespotted conger
Conger myriaster
Conger
Conger verreauxi
Cape conger
Conger wilsoni
Conger marginatus
Formosa Conger
Conger erebennus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
57,312 open-data records from 1902 to 2025.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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