Heterocongrinae
| Garden eels | |
|---|---|
| The spotted Heteroconger hassi and striped Gorgasia preclara | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Congridae |
| Subfamily: | Heterocongrinae Günther, 1870 |
| Genera | |
|
see text | |
The garden eels are infaunal ray-finned fish of the subfamily Heterocongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The majority of the 36 known species of garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific, but can be found in warm ocean water worldwide.[1][2][3] These small benthic eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from the behavior of poking their heads out of the burrows to feed on planktons while most of their bodies remain hidden. Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" out from the sea floor resemble shoots of grass in a garden. They vary in color and size depending on the species. The largest species reaches about 120 cm (47 in) in length, but most species do not surpass 60 cm (24 in).[1][2] Garden eel colonies can grow as large as one acre in surface area and number up to several thousand individuals.[4][5]
Genera
Hetercongrinae contains the following two genera:[6]
- Gorgasia Meek & Hildebrand, 1923
- Heteroconger Bleeker, 1868
References
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Congridae". FishBase. July 2012 version.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Heteroconger". FishBase. July 2012 version.
- ^ "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes - Genera/Species by Family/Subfamily". researcharchive.calacademy.org. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ^ "What's the Deal With Garden Eels?". Ocean Conservancy. 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ^ Doubilet, David. "The Best Images from 2019's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition". Weather.com. TWC Product and Technology LLC. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Congridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 November 2024.