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Ocean animals

Spotted garden eel

Amazing fact

The spotted garden eel digs in sand with its stiff tail and strengthens its burrow with mucus.

California Academy of Sciences
Spotted garden eel in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The spotted garden eel digs in sand with its stiff tail and strengthens its burrow with mucus.

SourceCalifornia Academy of Sciences — Spotted Garden Eel

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THE REAL WORLD

The real Spotted garden eel

Scientific name
Heteroconger hassi
Japanese name
チンアナゴ
Group
Ocean animals
Order
Anguilliformes
Family
Congridae
Genus
Heteroconger
Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Spotted garden eel” comes from

Its Japanese name comes from its face resembling a Japanese Chin dog.

神戸須磨シーワールド
01

It keeps most of its long body inside the sand.

神戸須磨シーワールド — チンアナゴ
02

It feeds on plankton carried past by the current.

神戸須磨シーワールド — チンアナゴ

How the Spotted garden eel lives

It lives in groups on the sandy bottom at the outer edge of coral reefs. It points its head toward the current. It may retreat into the sand when a fish passes.

沖縄美ら海水族館名古屋港水族館

Basic data

Size
Total length: up to about 40 cm
Diet
Plankton
Range
From Shizuoka Prefecture south to the Ryukyu Islands, and the Indo-West Pacific
神戸須磨シーワールド

Where the Spotted garden eel has been recorded

World map with dots where the Spotted garden eel has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesWorld oceansOcean

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

简体中文
哈氏异康吉鳗
繁體中文
哈氏異糯鰻
Português (Brasil)
Enguia-de-jardim-pintada

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

Report a mistake

When you meet the Spotted garden eel, look for this

  • Look for the black spots on the sides of its head.

Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.

沖縄美ら海水族館

EXHIBIT INFORMATION

Places that keep or show the Spotted garden eel

Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.

Hokkaido

Tohoku

Kanto

Chubu

Kinki

Chugoku and Shikoku

Kyushu and Okinawa

More facilities keep this animal. You can also search the JAZA animal finder (in Japanese).

Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.

RELATIVES

Others in Congridae

Whitespotted conger in its habitat (illustration)

Whitespotted conger

Splendid garden eel in its habitat (illustration)

Splendid garden eel

Silvery conger in its habitat (illustration)

Silvery conger

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Blue whale in its habitat (illustration)

Blue whale

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Sea otter

Spotted seal in its habitat (illustration)

Spotted seal

Orca in its habitat (illustration)

Orca