Whitespotted garden eel

Whitespotted garden eel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Congridae
Genus: Gorgasia
Species: G. maculata
Binomial name
Gorgasia maculata
Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959
Synonyms[1]
  • Gorgasia maculate Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959
  • Gorgasia maculatus Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959

The whitespotted garden eel (Gorgasia maculata), also known as the Indian spaghetti eel,[2] is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels).[3] It was described by Wolfgang Klausewitz and Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt in 1959.[4] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including Maldives, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Cocos Islands, Comoros, India, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.[5] It dwells at a depth range of 25 to 48 metres (82 to 157 ft), and lives in non-migratory colonies that form burrows on sandy slopes, usually near coral reefs. Males can reach a maximum total length of 70 centimetres (28 in).[3]

Due to its wide range and lack of known major threats, the IUCN redlist currently lists the whitespotted garden eel as Least Concern.[5]

References

  1. Synonyms of Gorgasia maculata at www.fishbase.org.
  2. Common names of Gorgasia maculata at www.fishbase.org.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gorgasia maculata at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Klausewitz, W. and I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959 (1 Sept.) [ref. 2616] Neue Röhrenaale von den Maldiven und Nikobaren (Pisces, Apodes, Heterocongridae). Senckenbergiana Biologica v. 40 (nos 3/4): 135-153.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Gorgasia maculata at the IUCN redlist.