Spotted garden eel

Distributed across the Indo-Pacific. In Japan from Kochi Prefecture to the Ryukyu Islands. It lives in colonies on sandy bottoms at the outer edge of coral reefs where there are strong currents. The lower half of its body is buried in the sand. The upper half sticks out of the sand with its head facing the current so that it can feed on any zooplankton that floats by. It is identified by the black spot on the side of its head. The Japanese name is Chin-anago due to its face resembling a Japanese Chin dog.