Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific online information system

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Species: Heteroconger pellegrini, Mimic garden-eel, Speckled garden-eel

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mouth ends under center eye
body & head: dense tiny black dots
tail tip with small C
upper lips joined
front nostrils in lips
pectoral < < eye

Heteroconger pellegrini Castle, 1999

Speckled garden-eel, Mimic garden-eel

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; dorsal origin behind tip of pectoral, rays before anus 143-198, total 532-675; anal rays 350-478; tail rays 7-8; 177-192 vertebrae; lateral line pores before anus 50-54, total 152-166, continue till near tail tip.

Body and fins light cream.densely covered with minute dark dots; dots smaller and less regularly arranged than in Gorgasia punctata.  

Size: to 63 cm.

Habitat: clean sand bottoms.

Depth: 5-30 m.

The tip of Baja California to Panama.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore Only
  • Inshore
Water Column Position
  • Bottom only
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Soft bottom only
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
  • Sand & gravel
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
Feeding Group
  • No Data
  • Planktivore
Diet
  • Zooplankton
  • Pelagic fish eggs
  • No Data
Egg Type
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
  • No data
Global Endemism
  • East Pacific endemic
  • Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic
  • All species
Regional Endemism
  • All species
  • TEP endemic
  • Continent only
  • Continent
  • Continental TEP endemic
  • 3 provinces (Cortez + Mexican + Panamic) endemic
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
  • Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
  • Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 63
Depth Range Min
  • 5
Depth Range Max
  • 30