Gilbert's garden eel

Gilbert's garden eel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Congridae
Genus: Ariosoma
Species:
A. gilberti
Binomial name
Ariosoma gilberti
(Ogilby, 1898)
Synonyms[2]
  • Congrellus gilberti Ogilby, 1898

The Gilbert's garden eel (Ariosoma gilberti), also known as the Gilbert's conger and the sharpnose conger,[3][1] is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels).[4] It was described by James Douglas Ogilby in 1898, originally under the genus Congrellus.[5] It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia.[4][1] It is a benthic and nocturnal species, and inhabits sand flats in reefs, bays and coves at a depth range of 1–100 metres. It burrows into sand during the day and emerges to forage during the night. Males can reach a maximum total length of 27 centimetres.[4]

The Gilbert's garden eel is preyed upon by the Pacific bearded brotula (Brotula clarkae, a Cusk-eel).[6] Due to its widespread distribution, lack of known threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Gilbert's garden eel as Least Concern.[1]

Named in honor of ichthyologist and fisheries biologist Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928), who reported this species as A. balearicum in 1891 but noted variations in his specimens[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d McCosker, J.; Béarez, P.; Bernal, O.; Betancur, R.; Lea, B. (2010). "Ariosoma gilberti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T183485A8121562. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T183485A8121562.en. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  2. ^ Synonyms of Ariosoma gilberti at www.fishbase.org.
  3. ^ Common names for Ariosoma gilberti at www.fishbase.org.
  4. ^ a b c Ariosoma gilberti at www.fishbase.org.
  5. ^ Ogilby, J. D., 1898 (Dec. 9) [ref. 3276] New genera and species of fishes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales v. 23 (pt 3): 280-299 (continued from p. 41).
  6. ^ Predators of Ariosoma gilberti at www.fishbase.org.
  7. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order ANGUILLIFORMES: Families MURAENESOCIDAE, NETTASTOMATIDAE, CONGRIDAE, MORINGUIDAE, CYEMATIDAE, NEOCYEMATIDAE, MONOGNATHIDAE, SACCOPHARYNGIDAE, EURYPHARYNGIDAE, NEMICHTHYIDAE, SERRIVOMERIDAE and ANGUILLID". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 1 March 2021.