bandtooth conger

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Congrio balear (Ariosoma balearicum), bahía de San Telmo, Valeta, Malta, 2021-08-24, DD 64.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Carpenter, K.E. |date=2015 |title=Ariosoma balearicum |volume=2015 |page=e.T194968A2369313 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T194968A2369313.en |access-date=1 January 2022}}

| taxon = Ariosoma balearicum

| authority = (Delaroche, 1809)

| synonyms_ref = [http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/SynonymsList.php?ID=1744&SynCode=23377&GenusName=Ariosoma&SpeciesName=balearicum Synonyms of Ariosoma balearicum] at www.fishbase.org.

| synonyms = * Muraena balearica Delaroche, 1809

• Conger balearicus (Delaroche, 1809)
• Congermuraena balearica (Delaroche, 1809)
• Congrellus balearicus (Delaroche, 1809)
• Ophisoma balearicum (Delaroche, 1809)
• Congromuraena balearica (Delaroche, 1809) (misspelling)
• Echelus ciuciara Rafinesque, 1810
• Muraena cassini Risso, 1810
• Conger cassini (Risso, 1810)
• Ophisoma acuta Swainson, 1839
• Conger auratus Costa, 1844
• Helmichthys diaphanus Costa, 1844
• Leptocephalus marginatus Kaup, 1856
• Leptocephalus taenia Kaup, 1856
• Conger impressus Poey, 1860
• Ariosoma impressa (Poey, 1860)
• Ophiosoma impressus (Poey, 1860)
• Ophisoma impressus (Poey, 1860)
• Congromuraena impressa (Poey, 1860) (misspelling)
• Leptocephalus inornatus Facciolà, 1883
• Leptocephalus affinis Facciolà, 1883
• Leptocephalus eckmani Strömman, 1896
• Leptocephalus ekmani Strömman, 1896 (misspelling)
• Leptocephalus rex Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1902
• Leptocephalus microphthalmus Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928
• Ariosoma minor Howell Rivero, 1934
• Ariosoma somaliense Kotthaus, 1968

}}

The bandtooth conger (Ariosoma balearicum), also known as the Baleares conger or the Balearic conger,[http://www.fishbase.org/comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=1744&GenusName=Ariosoma&SpeciesName=balearicum&StockCode=1940 Common names for Ariosoma balaericum] at www.fishbase.org. is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels).[http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Ariosoma-balearicum.html Ariosoma balearicum] at www.fishbase.org. It was described by François Étienne Delaroche in 1809, originally under the genus Muraena.Delaroche, F. E., 1809 [ref. 17380] Suite du mémoire sur les espèces de poissons observées à Iviça. Observations sur quelques-uns des poissons indiqués dans le précédent tableau et descriptions des espèces nouvelles ou peu connues. Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris v. 13: 313-361, Pls. 20-25. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from the western and eastern Atlantic and the western Indian Ocean, including North Carolina, United States; the northern Gulf of Mexico, northern South America, Canada, Portugal, Angola, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. It inhabits reefs and littoral shelves, and burrows into sand and mud. It dwells at a depth range of {{convert|1|–|732|m|ft|0|sp=us}}, but most frequently between {{cvt|20|–|100|m|ft}}. Males can reach a maximum total length (TL) of {{convert|35|cm|ftin}}, but more commonly reach a TL of {{convert|25|cm|in}}

The bandtooth conger is of minor interest to fisheries.