Hawaiian Garden Eel

The Hawaiian garden eel (Gorgasia hawaiiensis) is a species of eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). It was described by John Ernest Randall and James Robert Chess in 1980. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Hawaiian archipelago (from which its species epithet is derived), in the eastern central Pacific Ocean. It is non-migratory, and is thought to be restricted to the region. It dwells at a depth range of 11 to 53 metres (36 to 174 ft), and leads a benthic life, forming burrows in sand. Males can reach a maximum standard length of 59.8 centimetres (23.5 in).

This eel appears during sunrise and returns to its burrow around sunset, making it a diurnal animal. Although burrows of this eel are more abundant in shallow water, larger burrows belonging to this eel can be found in deeper water.