Dunmore East - 05/01/08

Just to follow up on the conger life cycle thing - there is little info actually available on this, as congers are difficult to study in the wild. However, congers kept in captivity have been studied, and aquarium managers have a lot of experience and knowledge of congers and their age, size at maturation, etc.
It just so happens a friend of mine used to manage a large public aquarium, and had told me before of releasing a large female conger when she matured, so I sent him an email this morning for more info. His reply is below. I've highlighted some parts for Boycie's benefit :wink:

Hey Kevin
The size can vary depending on the age they mature at, particularly in the wild, along with the habitat - if they have made their "home" in a place that is rich in food they can be pretty large by the time they head off on their journey to breed. Also, as you prob know females grow much larger than males, all large congers are females and males only grow to a few pounds. On average I would say a female will mature when it is about 7 to 9 years old, about 6 feet in length and about 60 to 70 pounds weight. Though as you know congers weighing well over 100 pounds are regularly caught - I would say this is more habitat than age though I couldnt be sure i.e. congers living in wrecks which are full of fish will probably eat voraciously and get to that 100 pound plus size in just a few years - we bring congers in weighing less than 10 pounds and within 3 years they can reach 50 pounds easily - and we only feed ours 4 times a week!!! So I would imagine in the wild a hungry conger eating every day will reach triple figures in just a few years. As you know when they become mature all their energy goes into producing their eggs, so they stop feeding, lose their teeth, and their bones de-calcify and weaken and become almost gelitanous. By the time they reach their breeding grounds they are basically __, and only have the energy to mate and then they die pretty quickly. If we release our congers when they are already quite a way along this "ripening" process then I very much doubt they will have the strength and time to make it to their breeding grounds.
Hope thats the kind of info you were looking for?! Let me know if theres anything else.

Sam says!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

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