[3] It was described by Wolfgang Klausewitz and Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt in 1959.

[4] 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.

[5] It dwells at a depth range of 25 to 48 metres (82 to 157 ft), 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).

[3] Due to its wide range and lack of known major threats, the IUCN redlist lists the whitespotted garden eel as Least Concern.