Abstract
Anguilliform leptocephali of the genus Thalassenchelys Castle and Raju 1975 are remarkably large and peculiarly shaped eel larvae, whose adult form has been unknown since the discovery of the larvae in the 1950s. We found bigmouth conger Congriscusmegastomus (Gunther 1877) collected off the Pacific coasts of Japan to have mitochondrial DNA sequences (16S rDNA and COI) nearly identical to those of Thalassenchelys coheni Castle and Raju 1975 published to date and collected recently in the north Pacific. Vertebrae counts of C.megastomus were consistent with the myomere counts of T. coheni. We conclude that T.coheni, so-called larval species described by Castle and Raju (1975), is a junior synonym of C.megastomus. Therefore, the family to which the leptocephali belong must be Congridae.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
