Echinogorgia sasappo Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Elopocephalai
Supercohors: Elopocephala
Cohors/Superordo: Elopomorpha
Ordo: Anguilliformes
Subordo: Congroidei
Familia: Congridae
Subfamilia: Heterocongrinae
Genus: Heteroconger
Species (21): H. balteatus – H. camelopardalis – H. canabus – H. chapmani – H. cobra – H. digueti – H. enigmaticus – H. fugax – H. hassi – H. klausewitzi – H. lentiginosus – H. longissimus – H. luteolus – H. mercyae – H. obscurus – H. pellegrini – H. perissodon – H. polyzona – H. taylori – H. tomberua – H. tricia
Name
Heteroconger Bleeker, 1868: 331
Gender: masculine
Type species: Heteroconger polyzona Bleeker, 1868
Type by original designation [also monotypic]
References
Bleeker, P. 1868. Description de trois espèces inédites des poissons des îles d'Amboine et de Waigiou. Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (Afdeeling Natuurkunde), Ser. 2) 2: 331–335, 1 pl.
Additional references
Koeda, K., Fujii, T. & Motomura, H. 2018. A new garden eel, Heteroconger fugax (Congridae: Heterocongrinae), from the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Zootaxa 4418(3): 287–295. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4418.3.6 Reference page.
Links
ION
Nomenclator Zoologicus
Heteroconger species list in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 02/2024.
Heteroconger and its species (including synonyms) in Catalog of Fishes, Eschmeyer, W.N., Fricke, R. & van der Laan, R. (eds.) 2024. Catalog of Fishes electronic version.
ITIS
Vernacular names
English: Garden eels
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. Its name relates to how a huge colony of the eels looks swaying in the current.
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 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
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[1]
Heteroconger balteatus Castle & J. E. Randall, 1999
Heteroconger camelopardalis (Lubbock, 1980)
Heteroconger canabus (G. I. McT. Cowan & Rosenblatt, 1974) (white-ring garden eel)
Heteroconger chapmani (Herre, 1923)
Heteroconger cobra J. E. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1981 (cobra garden eel)
Heteroconger congroides (D'Ancona, 1928)
Heteroconger digueti (Pellegrin, 1923) (pale green eel)
Heteroconger enigmaticus Castle & J. E. Randall, 1999 (enigma garden eel)
Heteroconger fugax Koeda, Fujii & Motomura, 2018 (shy garden eel)
Heteroconger guttatus Allen, Erdmann & Mongdong, 2020 (spotted garden eel)
Heteroconger hassi (Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959) (spotted garden eel)
Heteroconger klausewitzi (Eibl-Eibesfeldt & Köster, 1983) (Galapagos garden eel)
Heteroconger lentiginosus J. E. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1981 (masked garden eel)
Heteroconger longissimus Günther, 1870 (brown garden eel)
Heteroconger luteolus D. G. Smith, 1989 (yellow garden eel)
†Heteroconger mataura Schwarzhans, Lee & Gard, 2017
Heteroconger mercyae G. R. Allen & Erdmann, 2009 (Mercy's garden eel)
Heteroconger obscurus (Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959) (obscure garden eel)
Heteroconger pellegrini Castle, 1999 (mimic garden eel)
Heteroconger perissodon J. E. Böhlke & J. E. Randall, 1981 (black garden eel)
Heteroconger polyzona Bleeker, 1868 (zebra garden eel)
Heteroconger taylori Castle & J. E. Randall, 1995 (Taylor's garden eel)
Heteroconger tomberua Castle & J. E. Randall, 1999
Heteroconger tricia Castle & J. E. Randall, 1999 (Tricia's garden eel)
References
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Heteroconger". FishBase. September 2024 version.
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