White spotted garden eel, Gorgasia maculate.

These small easy to keep eels live with their rear end buried vertically in the sand. When danger threatens they will shoot backwards into their pencil width tunnels leaving just their faces sticking out. When they feel safe they will rise out of their tunnels sticking almost 1ft (300mm) of their bodies out vertically in the water column, whilst their tail remains within their burrow. They will also occasionally leave their burrows to swim around in a manner similar to a sea snake. They do require at least 2” deep very fine sugar sized sand (0-1mm). A tight fitting lid is also recommended. These peaceful eels are actually tiny members of the Conger eel family. They are best kept in groups, but, do not overcrowd. They are easy to keep and feed well on frozen Mysis, typically eating 2-4 frozen Mysis per day. They may predate on tiny inverts such as Sexy shrimp, or, tiny fish such as Coral gobies. Some larger fish such as tangs or larger Wrasses may pick on them. Other than that they are reef safe, and safe with all medium reef fish. They generally do well in captivity growing larger and living longer than they do in the wild.

Typically 8” to 12” but only around the same thickness as a pencil.