Record body size of the beach conger Conger japonicus (Anguilliformes: Congridae) in the East China Sea

Abstract

A record body size, length of 1520 mm and weight of 12,600 g for the beach conger, Conger japonicus was recorded, which is approximately 120 mm and 2600 g larger than the previous international record. The specimen was female and obtained during an otter trawl survey on 4 April 2013 in the East China Sea (31852.16 ′ N 127842.94 ′ E) at a depth of approximately 140 m on the slope of the continental shelf. Morphometric measurements and meristic counts are reported in this paper. We also report profiles of water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll-a taken immediately prior to the trawl, and species composition of concurrent catch with the otter trawling as environmental and biological characteristics of the habitat.

Collection of spawning-condition eels of Ariosoma meeki in the Kuroshio Current in the East China Sea

“…GSI values of Conger species have usually been even lower (Hood et al , 1988; Okamura et al , 2000; Sbaihi et al , 2001; O'Sullivan et al , 2003; Correia et al , 2009), presumably because those species migrate offshore to spawn (McCleave & Miller, 1994; Miller et al , 2011; Kurogi et al , 2012). A large female Conger japonicus caught in the northern ECS had a GSI of 9.5 (Yagi et al , 2013). Some information about the GSI of anguillid eels caught in their spawning area by trawls has been obtained (Chow et al , 2009; Tsukamoto et al , 2011), but higher values of about 45–65 occur in artificially matured Anguilla japonica females (Tsukamoto, 2009).…”