Banded Garden Eel
Heteroconger polyzona
- Usual depth2–24 m
- Water temperature26–29 °C
- Best monthsMay and June
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Lakshmi Sawitri, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The zebra garden eel, also known as the banded garden eel, is a species of eel in the conger/garden eels family Congridae. It was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1868. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, New Guinea, Indonesia and Vanuatu. It inhabits shallow waters at a depth range of 1 to 10 m, and forms burrows in colonies of moderate size on sand sediments in bays, slopes and reefs. Males can reach a maximum total length of 34.7 cm.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Zebra garden eel”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 2 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 0 records
- April: 2 records
- May: 6 records
- June: 4 records
- July: 3 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 1 records
- October: 2 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–24 m · Deepest record: 24.1 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 26–29 °C
Photos
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Banded Garden Eel, Zebra Garden Eel
Names in 2 more languages
- French
- Hétérocongre barré
- Japanese
- Zeburaanago, ゼブラアナゴ
Similar species
Black spotted garden eelHeteroconger hassi
Longfin African congerConger cinereus
- Bandtooth conger
Ariosoma balearicum
- Darkfin Conger
Ariosoma anago
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 13 open-data records from 1931 to 2016.
- Species data updated October 30, 2026.
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