Revised 15 Dec. 2025
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Coloconger Alcock 1889 colo-, from kólos (κόλος), shortened or curtailed, referring to stubby body and short tail of C. raniceps; conger, Latin for a marine eel but in this case referring to its presumed close affinity with Conger (Congridae)

Coloconger cadenati Kanazawa 1961 in honor of French ichthyologist Jean Cadenat (1908–1992), Director, Marine Biological Section of the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (Gorée, Senegal), who supplied holotype

Coloconger caninus (Castle & Raju 1975) Latin for canine or like a dog, referring to the shape of its snout (described from a leptocephalus)

Coloconger eximius (Castle 1967) Latin for exceptional, uncommon or extraordinary, described as a “complete novelty amongst known eel-larvae,” with a “remarkably large” size (700 mm TL) for a leptocephalus and a laterally compressed body, “giving the impression of a broad, flat tape”

Coloconger japonicus Machida 1984 -icus (L.), belonging to: Japan, referring to Okinawa Trough, type locality, between Japan and Taiwan in the South China Sea (possibly a synonym of C. scholesi)

Coloconger maculatus Ho & Tang 2021 Latin for spotted, referring to distinct black blotch on posterior portion of tail

Coloconger meadi Kanazawa 1957 in honor of American ichthyologist Giles W. Mead (1928–2003), who sent holotype to Kanazawa

Coloconger paucitubus Ho, Smith & Pogonoski 2025 paucus (L.), few or scanty; tubus (L.), tube, referring to the diagnostic low sensory tube (pore) count on the head compared with congeners

Coloconger raniceps Alcock 1889 rana (L.), frog; -ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its “massive, frog-like” head

Coloconger saldanhai Quéro 2001 in honor of Portuguese ichthyologist Luiz Saldanha (1937–1997, in a memorial volume commemorating his contributions to marine biology); Saldanha collaborated with Quéro and co-discovered this eel

Coloconger scholesi Chan 1967 in honor of Patrick Scholes (ca. 1946–2011), Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, England, for his contributions to the fishery survey program in the South China Sea