Genus: Heteroconger, Garden Eel, Garden Eels

HETEROCONGER

GARDEN EELS

Body very elongate, compressed; tail much longer than head and trunk; head short; snout very short; mouth very short (not reaching rear of eye), oblique, lower jaw only a little projecting; teeth in broad bands an jaw and roof of mouth; top lip flanges continuous across front of snout and enclosing front (tubular) nostrils and a pair of pores above the nostrils; rear nostril a hole before eye; pectoral fins present as tiny (much smaller than eye) skin flaps; tip of tail stiff, with obvious but small tail fin; dorsal and anal fins sometimes confluent with tail fin; a complete lateral line, numerous pores, 1 for each vertebra.

A circumtropical genus present in all three oceans; with about 15 recognized species; 1 trans-Atlantic, 1 W Atlantic and 1 endemic species in our region.