Heteroconger is a genus of marine congrid eels. These small, slender garden eels live in groups where each individual has its own burrow. Usually, only the head and front half of the body is visible. The greatest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific, but species are also found in the warmer parts of the Atlantic (including the Caribbean) and the eastern Pacific. The genus name relates to the species' distinct appearance, particularly in dentition, from other closely related eels.
The garden eel is roughly 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 determine the garden eel's lifespan in the wild.
The garden eel is a carnivore, and eats plankton. 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 are sexual reproducers and sexually 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 the epipelagic 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, the Pacific 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.
Species There are currently 24 recognized species in the genus Heteroconger. Some species of the genus Heteroconger are also recognized under the junior synonymous genus Taenioconger, but today it is widely recognized as invalid compared to Heteroconger. Species are diverse in morphological patterning such as spotting, banding, freckled and flat colorations. Heteroconger eels range in length from the shortest growing to around 33 cm, to the longest growing to about 80 cm (31 in).
The currently recognized species in this genus are:
+Species and characteristicsSpeciesGeographically foundDepth found (m)Max body length (cm)Described byYear describedHeteroconger balteatusWestern Indian Ocean and Red Sea4633Castle & J.E. Randall1999Heteroconger camelopardalisSouthwestern and Southeastern Atlantic Ocean -- --Lubbock1980Heteroconger canabus (White-ring garden eel)Gulf of California2080G.I. McT. Cowan & Rosenblatt1974Heteroconger chapmaniPhilippines (West Pacific Ocean) --69Herre1923Heteroconger cobra (cobra garden eel)Western Central Pacific Ocean --40Böhlke & J.E. Randall1981Heteroconger congroides Western Indian Ocean and Red Sea522 --D'Ancona1928Heteroconger digueti (Pale green eel)Eastern Central Pacific230-27563Pellegrin1923Heteroconger enigmaticus (engima garden eel)Western Pacific Ocean3-2543.7Castle & J.E. Randall1999Heteroconger fugax (shy garden eel)Northwestern Pacific Ocean10-32 --Koeda, Fujii & Motomura2018Heteroconger guttatus (spotted garden eel) -- -- --Allen, Erdmann & Mongdong2020Heteroconger hassi (Hass's garden eel)Indo-Pacific 15-4540Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt1959Heteroconger klausewitzi (Galapagos garden eel)Eastern Central and Southeastern Pacific Ocean10-3070Eibl-Eibesfeldt & Köster1983Heteroconger lentiginosus (masked garden eel)Pacific Ocean --37Böhlke & J.E. Randall1981Heteroconger longissimus (brown garden eel)Eastern and Western Atlantic Ocean10-6051Günther1870Heteroconger luteolus (yellow garden eel)Western Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico3350Smith1989†Heteroconger mataura -- -- --Schwarzhans, Lee & Gard2017Heteroconger mercyae (Mercy's garden eel)Western Pacific Ocean4-1067.8Allen & Erdmann2009Heteroconger obscurus (obscure garden eel)Eastern Indian Ocean1533.6Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt1959Heteroconger pellegrini (mimic garden eel)East Pacific Ocean5-3063Castle1999Heteroconger perissidon (black garden eel)Western Pacific and Eastern Indian Oceans1-3553.7Böhlke & J.E. Randall1981Heteroconger polyzona (zebra garden eel)Indo-Western Pacific1-1034.7Bleeker1868Heteroconger taylori (Taylor's garden eel)Central Indo-Pacific5-1548Castle & J.E. Randall1995Heteroconger tomberuaWestern Pacific Ocean3642.8Castle & J.E. Randall1995Heteroconger tricia (Tricia's garden eel)Eastern Indian Ocean --49.6Castle & J.E. Randall1999
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