Gorgasia hawaiiensis Randall & Chess, 1980
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Hawaiian garden eel (Gorgasia hawaiiensis) is a species of eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). 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 (from which its species epithet is derived), 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 (36 to 174 ft), and leads a benthic life, forming burrows in sand. Males can reach a maximum standard length of 59.8 centimetres (23.5 in).
This eel appears during sunrise and returns to its burrow around sunset, making it a diurnal animal. Although burrows of this eel are more abundant in shallow water, larger burrows belonging to this eel can be found in deeper water.
The Hawaiian garden eel's diet consists of zoobenthos.
Wikipedia contributors, Hawaiian garden eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:39:48.980110+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gorgasia hawaiiensis Randall & Chess, 1980
- Name authority
- Randall & Chess, 1980
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Congridae
- Genus
- Gorgasia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnguilliformes
- familyCongridae Kaup, 1856
- subfamilyHeterocongrinae Günther, 1870
- genusGorgasia Meek & Hildebrand, 1923
- speciesGorgasia hawaiiensis Randall & Chess, 1980
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gorgasia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gorgasia cotroneii (D'Ancona, 1928) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia inferomaculata (Blache, 1977) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia preclara Böhlke & Randall, 1981 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia sillneri Klausewitz, 1962 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia barnesi Robison & Lancraft, 1984 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia galzini Castle & Randall, 1999 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia japonica Abe, Miki & Asai, 1977 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia maculata Klausewitz & Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1959 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia naeocepaea (Böhlke, 1951) | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| peppered garden eelGorgasia punctata Meek & Hildebrand, 1923 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gorgasia taiwanensis Shao, 1990 | CongridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Randall, J. E., & Chess, J. R. (1979). A new species of garden eel (Congridae: Heterocongrinae) of the genus Gorgasia from Hawaii. Pac. Sci. 33(1):17-23. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3H32R. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.