Order Eel | Phylum Chordata Rank Species | |
People also search for Heteroconger, Eel, Mimic garden eel |
The Galapagos garden eel (Heteroconger klausewitzi) is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). It was described by Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt and Friedmann Köster in 1983, originally under the genus Taenioconger. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including Colombia, Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, and Panama. It dwells at a depth of 10 to 30 m (33 to 98 ft), and lives in large, nonmigratory colonies in clean, sandy substrates. Males can reach a maximum total length of 70 cm (28 in).
The diet of the Galapagos garden eel consists of zooplankton. Due to its widespread distribution in the eastern Pacific, lack of major threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the species as Least Concern.