''Gorgasia preclara'', the splendid garden eel or orange-barred garden eel, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of marine garden eel.

Description

The splendid garden eel is a medium-sized fish, up to 40 cm maximum length. Its body has a circular shape with a diameter of about 10 mm. Its body color is yellow to orange with characteristic white bands.

Distribution and habitat

''Gorgasia preclara'' is widespread throughout the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

waters of the

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area from the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

to Indonesian archipelago and the

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and north to

Ryukyu The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

, Japanese archipelagos, and south to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It occurs in sandy areas exposed to currents at depths between 18 and 75 m, but is usually observed at an average depth of 30 m.

Biology

The splendid garden eel lives in a buried tube in the sand either alone or in groups ranging anywhere from three to over a thousand eels. Typically, only its head and uppermost body protrudes from the sand, and it will retreat entirely if approached by large fish or divers. They feed on drifting

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

.Myers, R.F., 1999. Micronesian reef fishes: a comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia, 3rd revised and expanded edition. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 330 p.

Reproduction

During mating season male and female eels will move burrows to increase proximity to one another. Males will often engage in a courtship display of protective behaviors and may bite rival eels. After a male has won a display, the male and female eel will stretch from their burrows to intertwine bodies. Splendid garden eels are pelagic spawners, meaning that female eels will release fertilized eggs into the current. When the eggs hatch in the current, larvae continue to float until they reach a certain size. Once they've hit this size threshold juvenile eels will dig their sand burrow.

References

External links

* preclara Fish described in 1981 Taxa named by James Erwin Böhlke Taxa named by John Ernest Randall {{Anguilliformes-stub