Spotted Garden Eel

Q: Where can you find Spotted Garden Eel?

Spotted Garden Eel can be found in: Bali, Egypt East, Laccadive Islands, Saudi Arabia West, Malaysia East, Taiwan, Marshall Islands, Malaysia West, Somalia East, Vanuatu, Sudan, Brunei, Myanmar, Eritrea, Australia, Kenya, India, Israel, Japan South, India East, India West, Thailand East, Thailand West, Israel South, Oman, Oman East, Somalia North, Australia East, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles, Indo-Pacific, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Polynesia, Singapore, Tanzania, Malaysia, South Africa, Red Sea, Japan, Indonesia, Chagos Islands, Mozambique, Jordan, Palau, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Egypt, Tonga and Samoa, Yemen, Mascarene Islands, Madagascar, Kiribati, Djibouti, Comoros, Fiji, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Somalia.

Heteroconger hassi

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Heteroconger hassi is a heteroconger belonging to the family Congridae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific.

Description

The Spotted garden-eel is a small fish that can reach a maximum length of 40 cm. Its body is anguiform (eel-like): long, thin, with a circular cross-section (14 mm in average diameter) and a head of the same diameter as the body. The head appears shortened because the large mouth is close to the also large eyes. Nostrils are small and positioned in the center of the upper lip.

The body is white and covered with many small black spots. The spotted garden-eel has three larger distinctive black spots; the first identifies the gills opening and the position of the tiny pectoral fins, the second is located in the central part of the body and the third one surrounds the anus. Juveniles have a very thin black body.

Distribution & habitat

The spotted garden-eel is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific from the eastern coasts of Africa including the Red Sea to Polynesia, and south from Japan to New Caledonia.

It lives exclusively in variously sized colonies on sandy bottoms that are exposed to currents, at depths from 15 to 45 meters. It digs a burrow from which emerges about a third of its body pointing their mouths towards the underwater current to catch drifting food.

Biology

As in other heteroconger species, individuals rarely leave their burrow once it is finished, but will shift burrows closer together during breeding season until contact between partners is possible. Fertilized eggs and juveniles have a planktonic period before reaching sufficient size to start living in the substrate.

About Congridae

The Congridae are the family of conger and garden eels. Congers are valuable and often large food fishes, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden (thus the name). The family includes over 180 species in 32 genera.

The European conger, Conger conger, is the largest of the family and of the Anguilliformes order that includes it; it has been recorded at up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in length and weighing 350 lb (160 kg).

Congrids are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas across the world. Clear distinguishing features among congrids are few; they all lack scales, and most possess pectoral fins. They feed on crustaceans and small fish, and unlike some other eels, do not migrate to breed.