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| Heteroconger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spotted garden eels,Heteroconger hassi | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Congridae |
| Subfamily: | Heterocongrinae |
| Genus: | Heteroconger Bleeker, 1868 |
| Type species | |
| Heteroconger polyzona Bleeker, 1868 | |
| Species | |
See text | |
Heteroconger is agenus of marinecongrideels. These small, slendergarden eels live in groups where each individual has its own burrow. Usually, only the head and front half of the body is visible. The greatestspecies richness is in theIndo-Pacific, but species are also found in the warmer parts of theAtlantic (including theCaribbean) and the easternPacific. The genus name relates to the species' distinct appearance, particularly indentition, from other closely related eels.[1]
The garden eel is roughly 40 cm (16 in) long. The eel has large eyes compared to its body, and a weak sense of smell because of its tiny nostrils. It is timid around other animals and people, but slightly aggressive towards other males of its species. If it feels threatened, it retreats into its burrow and closes it with a mucus block so the predator cannot dig into its home. It has a gland in its tail that secretes a sticky substance that keeps the burrow from falling in on itself and burying the garden eel in sand. Scientists have yet to figure out the garden eel's lifespan in the wild.
The garden eel is a carnivore, and eatsplankton. Because of its large eyes, it relies mostly on sight to find its food. It catches the plankton by staying in its burrow and swaying its head about to catch the plankton drifting by in the current.
Garden eels aresexual reproducers andsexually dimorphic. In the mating season, the eels move their burrows closer together, until they are within reaching distance. Then, the male picks which female he wants to mate and defends her viciously, biting at the head and even the eyes of any other suitors. The couple mates and the female releases the fertilized eggs, letting them float away and gather around theepipelagic zone. The garden eels develop and hatch out of their eggs while floating in the water and, when they are large enough, swim down to a sand bed and dig a burrow of their own.
One of its top predators, thePacific snake eel,Ophicthus triserialis, burrows into the sand near a colony, then digs under a garden eel's burrow and grabs its tail. This all happens under the substrate, where the unsuspecting garden eel cannot see what is happening.Trigger fish scare the garden eels into retreating into their burrows, then dig them up and devour them.
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[2]
Media related toHeteroconger at Wikimedia Commons