Gilbert's garden eel

The Gilbert's garden eel (Ariosoma gilberti), also known as the Gilbert's conger and the sharpnose conger,^[3][1] is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels).^[4] It was described by James Douglas Ogilby in 1898, originally under the genus Congrellus.^[5] It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia.^[4][1] It is a benthic and nocturnal species, and inhabits sand flats in reefs, bays and coves at a depth range of 1–100 metres. It burrows into sand during the day and emerges to forage during the night. Males can reach a maximum total length of 27 centimetres.^[4]

Gilbert's garden eel
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Congridae
Genus:	Ariosoma
Species:	A. gilberti
Binomial name
Ariosoma gilberti (Ogilby, 1898)
Synonyms[2]
Congrellus gilberti Ogilby, 1898

The Gilbert's garden eel is preyed upon by the Pacific bearded brotula (Brotula clarkae, a Cusk-eel).^[6] Due to its widespread distribution, lack of known threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Gilbert's garden eel as Least Concern.^[1]

Named in honor of ichthyologist and fisheries biologist Charles Henry Gilbert (1859–1928), who reported this species as A. balearicum in 1891 but noted variations in his specimens^[7]