The garden eels are the subfamily Heterocongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The majority of garden eels live in the Indo-Pacific, but species are also found in warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean (including the Caribbean) and East Pacific. These small eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from their practice of poking their heads from their burrows while most of their bodies remain hidden. Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" from the sea floor resemble the plants in a garden. They vary greatly in colour depending on the exact species involved. The largest species reaches about in length, but most species do not surpass . Garden eel colonies can grow as large as one acre in surface area. Species Based on FishBase, about 10 species of garden eels are in two genera: Gorgasia Barnes' garden eel B. H. Robison & Lancraft, 1984 Gorgasia cotroneii (D'Ancona, 1928) Galzin's garden eel, Gorgasia galzini Castle & Randall, 1999 Hawaiian garden eel, Gorgasia hawaiiensis Randall & Chess, 1980 Gorgasia inferomaculata (Blache, 1977) Pacific spaghetti eel, Gorgasia japonica T. Abe, Miki & Asai, 1977 Klausewitz's garden eel, Gorgasia klausewitzi Quéro & Saldanha, 1995 Whitespotted garden eel, Gorgasia maculata Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959 Freckled garden eel, Gorgasia naeocepaea (J. E. Böhlke, 1951) Splendid garden eel, Gorgasia preclara J. E. Böhlke & Randall, 1981 Dotted garden eel, Gorgasia punctata Meek & Hildebrand, 1923 Gorgasia sillneri Klausewitz, 1962 Sharp-nose garden eel, Gorgasia taiwanensis K. T. Shao, 1990 Gorgasia thamani D. W. Greenfield & Niesz, 2004 Heteroconger Heteroconger balteatus Castle & Randall, 1999 Heteroconger camelopardalis (Lubbock, 1980) White-ring garden eel, Heteroconger canabus (G. I. McT. Cowan & Rosenblatt, 1974) Heteroconger chapmani (Herre, 1923) Cobra garden eel, Heteroconger cobra J. E. Böhlke & Randall, 1981 Heteroconger congroides (D'Ancona, 1928) Pale green eel, Heteroconger digueti (Pellegrin, 1923) Enigma garden eel Castle & Randall, 1999 Spotted garden eel, Heteroconger hassi (Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959) Galapagos garden eel, Heteroconger klausewitzi (Eibl-Eibesfeldt & Köster, 1983) Masked garden eel, Heteroconger lentiginosus J. E. Böhlke & Randall, 1981 Brown garden eel, Heteroconger longissimus Günther, 1870 Yellow garden eel, Heteroconger luteolus D. G. Smith, 1989 Mercy's garden eel G. R. Allen & Erdmann, 2009 Obscure garden eel (Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959) Mimic garden eel, Heteroconger pellegrini Castle, 1999 Black garden eel J. E. Böhlke & Randall, 1981 Zebra garden eel Bleeker, 1868 Taylor's garden