Garden Eels

ocean · clever builders · group animals · eels

Underwater gardeners. Garden eels live in burrows on the sandy sea floor in warm oceans around the world. They spend most of their time hidden below, only poking their heads out to catch tiny bits of food called plankton.

Massive colonies. Garden eels don't live alone, they gather in huge groups that can cover an entire acre of ocean floor with up to several thousand eels. When they all stick their heads up together, it looks just like a field of grass swaying in the breeze.

Tiny to medium-sized. Most garden eels grow to about 60 centimeters long, which is about as long as a ruler. The biggest ones can reach 120 centimeters, but they're still much smaller than most other eels.

Rainbow of colors. Different species of garden eels come in all sorts of beautiful colors and patterns, depending on which type they are. This helps scientists tell one species apart from another in the ocean depths.

Indo-Pacific home. Most garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific region, though some species have spread to warm waters all around the world.