The Spotted Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi) is a medium-sized marine (saltwater) fish in the Congridae family of conger eels. It is not found in the garden – it is found in the sea.
The Spotted Garden Eel has a cylindrical, long, thin, white body with small black spots. It has three distinctive larger black spots.
It grows to 40 centimetres (16 inches) long.
The Spotted Garden Eeel is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
It prefers oceans with sandy bottoms and moving currents, near the coast in lagoons and reefs.
It feeds on plankton.
It lives in a buried tube in the sand, with its head exposed. In danger, it disappears in the sand. It lives alone or in small groups.
Location of photographs: Aquarium de Paris-Cinéaqua, France
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM