Anago is the Japanese word for salt-water eels, normally referring to ma-anago. Ma-anago are used for a seafood dish in Japan. They are often simmered (sushi) or deep-fried (tempura), compared to unagi which are usually barbecued with a sauce (kabayaki). Anago is also slightly less rich and oily than unagi. Anago has a very soft texture and sweet taste.
The gardens eel are the subfamily Heterochongrinae 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 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 120 cm (47 in) in length, but most species do not surpass 60 cm (24 in). Garden eel colonies can grow as large as one acre in surface area.
Ariosoma major is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Hirotoshi Asano in 1958, originally as a subspecies of Alloconger shiroanago, which was later moved under the genus Ariosoma. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern China Sea, Japan, and Taiwan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a widespread distribution, and inhabits sandy regions. Males can reach a maximum total length of 53 centimetres.
Ariosoma shiroanago is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Hirotoshi Asano in 1958, originally under the genus Alloconger. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from the northwestern Pacific Ocean, including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. It leads a benthic lifestyle and inhabits rough sand on continental shelves. Males can reach a maximum total length of 40 centimetres.
The Blackedge conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by David Starr Jordan and John Otterbein Snyder in 1901, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from Japan to the Philippines, in the western Pacific Ocean. It dwells at a depth range of 150–450 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 54 centimetres.
Gnathophis nystromi is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by David Starr Jordan and John Otterbein Snyder in 1901, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It contains two subspecies, Gnathophis nystromi nystromi, and Gnathophis nystromi ginanago, which was described by Hirotoshi Asano in 1958, originally under the genus Rhynchocymba.
The slender conger is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by John Richardson in 1845, originally under the genus Congrus. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific Ocean, including the Red Sea, South Africa, and Japan. It dwells at a depth range of 18 to 760 metres, and inhabits sand and mud. Males can reach a maximum total length of 52 centimetres (20 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 30 centimetres (12 in).
The Barnes' garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Bruce H. Robison and Thomas M. Lancraft in 1984. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western Pacific Ocean, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 5 to 20 metres, and inhabits sand substrates. Males can reach a maximum total length of 121 centimetres (48 in).
The Hawaiian garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. 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, 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, and leads a benthic life, forming burrows in sand. Males can reach a maximum standard length of 59.8 centimetres (23.5 in).
The Klausewitz's garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Jean-Claude Quéro and Luiz Vieria Caldas Saldanha in 1995. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indian Ocean, including the Andaman Islands, Réunion, Mauritius, and the Comoros Islands. It dwells at a depth range of 170 to 225 metres, and forms large colonies consisting of hundreds of individual eels. Males can reach a maximum total length of 75.1 centimetres (29.6 in).
The whitespotted garden eel, also known as the Indian spaghetti eel, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Wolfgang Klausewitz and Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt in 1959. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including Maldives, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Cocos Islands, Comoros, India, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It dwells at a depth range of 25 to 48 metres, and lives in non-migratory colonies that form burrows on sandy slopes, usually near coral reefs. Males can reach a maximum total length of 70 centimetres (28 in).
Gorgasia naeocepaea, the freckled garden eel, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by James Erwin Böhlke in 1951, originally under the genus Taenioconger. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the western central Pacific Ocean, including the Philippines and Indonesia. It is known to inhabit sandy regions, and dwells at a depth range of 10 to 24 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 75 centimetres (30 in).
The dotted garden eel, also known as the peppered garden eel, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Seth Eugene Meek and Samuel Frederick Hildebrand in 1923. It is a nonmigratory tropical, marine eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Males can reach a maximum total length of 50 cm.
The sharp-nose garden eel is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Shao Kwang-Tsao in 1990. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from Taiwan and southern Japan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is non-migratory, and dwells at a depth range of 14 to 22 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 74.1 centimetres (29.2 in). It can be identified by the shape of its snout.
Gorgasia thamani is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by David Wayne Greenfield and Sean Niesz in 2004. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from Fiji, in the western central Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 14 to 15 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 119 centimetres (47 in).
The white-ring garden eel, also known as the Cape garden eel in Mexico, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Garry I. McTaggart-Cowan and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1974, originally under the genus Taenioconger. It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the Gulf of California, in the eastern central Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth of 20 m (66 ft), and inhabits sand sediments near reefs, where it forms burrows in nonmigratory colonies. Males can reach a maximum total length of 80 cm.
The pale green eel, also known as the pale garden eel or the Cortez garden eel, is an eel in the family Congridae. It was described by Jacques Pellegrin in 1923, originally under the genus Taenioconger. It is a nonmigratory marine, deepwater-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern central Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California and Mexico. It dwells at a depth of 230 to 275 m and inhabits sandy sediments near reefs in large colonies. Males can reach a maximum total length of 63 cm.
Scolecenchelys japonica is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by Yoshihiko Machida and Suguru Ohta in 1993, originally under the genus Muraenichthys. It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from Mishima Island, Japan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is known to dwell at a depth range of 74 to 78 metres. Males can reach a maximum total length of 19.7 centimetres (7.8 in).
The Oriental worm-eel, also known as the Oriental snake eel, the Oriental sand-eel or the finny sand-eel, is an eel in the family Ophichthidae. It was described by John McClelland in 1844, originally under the genus Dalophis. It is a tropical, marine and freshwater-dwelling eel which is known from the Indo-Western Pacific, including Somalia, South Africa, India, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Oman, Palau, New Caledonia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Vanuatu. It dwells at a depth range of 0 to 3 metres, and forms burrows in sand and mud sediments in estuaries, rivers, and inshore turbid waters. Males can reach a maximum total length of 36 centimetres (14 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 25 centimetres (9.8 in).
The dragon poacher is a fish in the family Agonidae (poachers). It was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1769, originally under the genus Cottus. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling fish which is known from the northern Pacific Ocean, including the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Bering Sea. It dwells at a depth range of 19 to 750 metres, and inhabits gravel, sand and mud sediments. Males can reach a maximum total length of 42 centimetres (17 in).
