Shorttail Conger, Paraconger similis

Shorttail Conger, Paraconger similis. Fish caught from coastal waters north of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, March 2018. Length: 31.6 cm (12.4 inches). Tail: 57% of TL.

Shorttail Conger, Paraconger similis. Fish caught from coastal waters north of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, March 2007. Note: 6 identical eels were caught on the same day with lengths varying from 25 cm (10 inches) to 30 cm (12 inches). Their tail lengths varied from 54.6% to 57.7%. The identification of those fish were reconfirmed by Dr. Richard Rosenblatt, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. A different fish measuring 74 cm (2 feet 5 inches) in length (head 16.2%, trunk 26.3%; tail 57.5%) was provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area in March 2011. It exceeded the maximum known length for this species by a full 22.0 cm (8.7 inches). The Identification of that fish was reconfirmed by Dr. David Smith, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.

The Shorttail Conger, Paraconger similis, is a member of the Congridae or Conger Eel Family, and is known in Mexico as congrio colicorta. Globally, there seven species in the genus Paraconger, of which three are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.

The Shorttail Conger has an elongated cylindrical “eel-like” body. They are tan to reddish brown in color transitioning to silver ventrally. They lack other significant markings. The margins of their anal and dorsal fins are tan. Their head is long with a rounded tapering snout, a large mouth, and large eyes. Their caudal fin is short and stiff; and, their dorsal fin originates over their well-developed yellow pectoral fins. Their tail length is approximately 57% of total length. They have a complete lateral line.

The Shorttail Conger is a demersal species that is found buried within coastal sandy bottoms at depths between 49 m (160 feet) and 149 m (490 feet). They reach a maximum of 74 cm (29 inches) in length, which was established by a fish in my possession and described and photographed above. The Shorttail Conger is a rare and poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Shorttail Conger is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found around the tip of Baja (as established by fish photographed above) and along the coast of the mainland from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, south to Guatemala.

The Shorttail Conger can be confused with the Sharpnose Conger, Ariosoma gilberti (tail 50% of total length) and the Ringeye Conger, Paraconger californiensis (tail 67% of total length; dark ring in iris; black spot at edge of eye).

From a conservation perspective the Shorttail Conger is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are relatively small in stature, exceedingly rare, and of limited interest to most.