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Spotted Garden Eel

Heteroconger hassi

Photo by Diadem
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Like a slim straw, spotted garden eels can be up to 16 inches (40 cm) long, although you may never see more than a quarter of their body. They get their name from all the tiny odd-shaped spots covering the body, including three large solid black spots of which only two are generally seen. Large yellow eyes make it easy for the spotted garden eel to spot its tiny food floating in the current.
These fishes swim horizontally and as big as cigarette.

Habitat:

Spotted garden eels live in colonies on the sand flats and slopes that border coral reefs at depths of 23 to 150 feet (7 to 45 m). Spotted garden eels will also be found in areas densely populated with seagrass. Living among the seagrass blades makes it easy for these eels to blend in.

Reference Links:

Spotted garden eel

Species ID Suggestions

Spotted Garden Eel

Heteroconger hassi

Reference Link
HeatherMiller
1

Comments (5)
HeatherMiller
There are some great point and click cameras. Nikon is coming out with a new consumer model soon, if they haven't already.
Diadem
@HeatherMiller Thanks girl! Yeah we have lots of cool animals here..unluckily my camera was broken..need to buy a new one..
HeatherMiller
Diadem, glad to help. I spotted my first of these a couple of years ago at the Georgia Aquarium. Of course then, I had a bad camera and all the shots look very very blue and fuzzy. I'll go again and take the big camera next time. Also, If you click edit in the upper right corner, you can change the "unknown" to the species info and other things. Click on the link and you'll get a Wiki page that you can copy the link to and add to the spotting too. There are lots of cool animals and plants in the Philippines.
Diadem
@HeatherMiller Hey thanks a lot for helping me ID this fishes! :)
HeatherMiller
When approached or threatened, they will go back into their burrows. They eat plankton and need a decent current to be happy in a habitat. They are seen in "schools" and have a look like grass if you see them from behind a mask (or so I was told).

Spotted for Missions

Mission
WILD Cities: Urban Biodiversity
Mission
Global Coral Reef Monitoring

Tags

Photographed
PublishedJune 24, 2011

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