Scientific name: Heteroconger perissodon
Size: About 2 feet
Color: Light brown and white
Distinguishing feature: Planted in the ground, light brown snake body with a large white spot at the gills
Where did we see it: Bali and Gili, Thailand, Mayotte, Maldives
Scientific name: Heteroconger perissodon
Size: About 2 feet
Color: Light brown and white
Distinguishing feature: Planted in the ground, light brown snake body with a large white spot at the gills
Where did we see it: Bali and Gili, Thailand, Mayotte, Maldives
It's a species that lives in colonies of hundreds to thousands eels. Males are usually at the center of the colony.
br />
Unlike other eels, they never leave their holes. This one has mucus which solidifies the sand so that it does not collapse.
Very shy, the colony fled into the sand as the divers moved towards her. The nearest individuals first, then the second, etc.
If they do not feel threatened, they stay out of their burrows and look like wheat fields in the wind, hence their name of garden eels.
Parrotfish create a protective envelope around them when they are sleeping.
So, don't put the light on them during night dive to don't to wake them up and break this envelope.
The whale shark is the largest fish in the world!
Some whales are larger, but they are mammals, not fish!
Mammals have a horizontal tail.
Fishes have a vertical fin.