Spiney Eel Id?

[Canis-Equus]

Soooo..... eel experts - whats this chaps ID then?

Cant tell you much about him, he was bought privately and the previous owner doesnt know what he is either.

All i really know is hes confident and calm, and he'll kill anything he can, regardless of size he will have a go.

 

[Gankutsuou]

really intriguing.

Not a half band, not a peacock of any type. Still relative to small size.

Not a tyre track. Nor a fire. Not a flame. Not a zebra

Hmmmmm....
I'd say you might have yourself an imported one, but I don't wanna be too confident!

 

[Canis-Equus]

Should point out, hes between 14" and 16" long.... compared to my other eels (zebra, dayi, aral, siamensis), this guy is BIG, he has the girth (snigger) comparable to MUCH longer eels ive seen, hes a really chunky guy.

As far as imported goes.... im not aware that anyone breeds these guys in captivity, although i suspect someone might ive not heard of it in the UK so id expect all spiney eels to be imported - nmonks would know on that score i guess?

Em

 

[Fella]

I'd say Mastacembalus armatus, the tyre track eel. There are a few different types of tyre track eels, and this looks to me like it could be one of them.

http/www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsS...ry.php?ID=10140

 

[Canis-Equus]

I have wondered that, but he is markedly different from every tyre track ive seen and ive searched out a LOT of pics.

SO, mebbes hes just a bizzare colour form of a tyre track, or mebbes hes something else..... im not about to go counting his spines or his rays in his fins or anything! (that fish.... if you stick your arm in his tank, he WILL try to eat it, he doesnt give a monkeys about whose bigger than who....)

 

[severum boy]

Id say it was a colour form of the tyre track eel as well, it looks like nothing I can find.
You could ask the retailer or the supplier where they imported it from.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Might ask the guy I got him from where he got him. All I know is, I found him on ebay being rehomed and he came from Peterborough way. Suspecting Peterborough isn't his natural home

Em

 

[toddnbecka]

It's a tire-track eel, they all lose the attractive pattern when they grow large enough. Eventually, they become a plain, muddy brown color.

 

[nmonks]

Fella is right, I think. It looks like a Mastacembelus armatus / Mastacembelus flavus group spiny eel. There are a whole complex of geographical varieties in this species group, and the banding on the body varies enormously. For all practical purposes they are the same species: big (70-100 cm), predatory (eat anything up to swordtails), and territorial (much like fire eels).

I can't say I've noticed the loss of colour toddnbecka but that is certainly possible. My specimen "jumped the tank" when it was about 2/3rds grown.

Cheers, Neale

 

[CFC]

Ive got a 27" fire eel which is around 10 years old and trust me it has no loss of colour at all, whoever told you that little bit of information was talking out of their


It looks like a fish i have seen marked up as Mastacembelus favus a couple of times before, although its just as likely that they had the wrong name as well to be honest.

 

[Canis-Equus]

http/animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/Eels...EelWFE_C409.jpg

Doesnt this chap look so much like mine excepting the spots on the tail........but MY m. siamensis looks nowt like that one! Not that id trust that particular source..... as far as i can see most of the names to the pics are wrong.