| Spotted garden eel | |
|---|---|
| Spotted garden eel at the Seattle Aquarium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Anguilliformes |
| Family: | Congridae |
| Genus: | Heteroconger |
| Species: | H. hassi |
| Binomial name | |
| Heteroconger hassi Kaup, 1856 |
|
The spotted garden eel, Heteroconger hassi, is a conger of the family Congridae, found in Indo-Pacific oceans at depths of between 7 and 45 m. Length is up to 60 cm, and the body diameter is up to about 14 mm. The species live in abundant colonies of up to a few thousand, on sandy burrows close to corals and reefs. They point their mouths towards the underwater current in order to catch drifting zooplankton.