Cynoponticus coniceps

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	ANGUILLIFORMES	MURAENESOCIDAE

Scientific Name:

Cynoponticus coniceps

Species Authority:

(Jordan & Gilbert, 1882)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Conehead eel, Red pike-conger
Spanish	–	Congrio espantoso, Congrio oscuro

Synonym/s:

Muraenesox coniceps Jordan & Gilbert, 1882

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Data Deficient ver 3.1
Year Published:	2010
Assessor/s:	McCosker, J., Béarez, P., Bernal, O., Betancur, R., Lea, B.
Reviewer/s:	Carpenter, K., Polidoro, B., Livingstone, S. (Global Marine Species Assessment Team)
Justification: This species is wide-ranging, however more information is needed to assess the impacts of fishing activities on populations. This species is therefore listed as Data Deficient given the potential intensity of threats to this species combined with the lack of information on population status and trends.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is found in the Eastern Pacific from Magdalena Bay, throughout the Gulf of California to northern Peru (Chirichigno and Cornejo 2001).
Countries:	Native: Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Peru
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:	Native: Pacific – southeast; Pacific – eastern central
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	No population information is available for this species.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species inhabits sandy and muddy substrate, as well as mangrove habitats. This species can grow to more than two m long and weigh over 11 kg making it one of the largest species of the genus and family (Smith 1995).
Systems:	Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species is a commercially harvested fish, and is a bycatch of shrimp trawling and a variety of other fishing gear types. The effect of commercial harvests and shrimp fisheries on this species is unknown, especially as little is known about current population status or trends. Additionally, fishermen typically remove the head making it difficult to identify this species for futher study (Franke and Acero 1996).

Major Threat(s):

This species is a commercially harvested fish, and is a bycatch of shrimp trawling and a variety of other fishing gear types. The effect of commercial harvests and shrimp fisheries on this species is unknown, especially as little is known about current population status or trends. Additionally, fishermen typically remove the head making it difficult to identify this species for futher study (Franke and Acero 1996).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There are no known specific conservation measures for this species. This species' distribution overlaps a number of Marine Protected Areas in the eastern tropical Pacific region (WDPA 2006). However, research is needed to determine population trends and the effects of commercial fishing, shrimp fisheries, and bycatch on this species.

Conservation Actions:

There are no known specific conservation measures for this species. This species' distribution overlaps a number of Marine Protected Areas in the eastern tropical Pacific region (WDPA 2006). However, research is needed to determine population trends and the effects of commercial fishing, shrimp fisheries, and bycatch on this species.

Citation:	McCosker, J., Béarez, P., Bernal, O., Betancur, R., Lea, B. 2010. Cynoponticus coniceps. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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