True freshwater eels?

[rumblesushi]

I've been a little surprised/confused recently :D

I knew that electric eels were not true eels, part of the knife family, however I recently read that the synbranchus swamp eels are not true eels, just elongated fish, and also that fire eels are not true eels either.

Wtf, I really thought these 2 genus were true eels.

Next up I'll be hearing that moray eels and conger eels are not true eels either :D

Scientifically - what constitutes an eel?

And what are the true freshwater eels? Just the anguilla species?

[redtailfool]

I dont really know what constitute an eel . But you are right on the genus anguilladae. They are the recognized freshwater eel . Ill do more reading when i get the chance.

[rumblesushi]

thanks wes, I look forward to your findings :D

[guppy]

Any member of the order of Anguilloidei are true eels, there are 4 suborders each containing several families, most are salt water or migratory.
The suborders are anguillidae (arrowtooth, worm, spaghetti, false moray, american, moray, etc),
the congroidei (congers, pike eels, etc),
the nemicthyoidei (snipe and sawtooth),
and the synaphobrachoidei (cuthroats)

[rumblesushi]

so that's it then Guppy? Any other "eel" is actually a fish?

Do you know what constitutes an eel?

[dredcon]

Also, none of the freshwarer eels (family Anguillidae) are entirely freshwater. They exibit a life history strategy know as catadromy. Catadromous fish live in freshwater and spawn in saltwater. This is a very unique spawning strategy that only about ¼ of 1 percent of fish share. Tsukamoto et al. suggest that catadromy in the eels may have stemmed from an ancestor that completed it migration within the ocean (Tsukamoto et al. 2002). That idea is supported by the recent discovery of ocean only migrations in the Japanese eel. (Tsukamoto and Arai 2001). Both American and European eels have almost identical life histories. The American eel begins its life in the Sargasso Sea which lies in the middle of the north Atlantic gyer. Their spawning location is though to be located south of Bermuda and north of the Bahamas, although spawning has never been witnessed. <--- from a paper I am working on about the role of biology, life histroy, and genetics in the conservation of the American eel.

[rumblesushi]

dredcon, thanks for the info hombre, it's interesting.

I want a true eel :D

Who has experience with these? Anyone kept an American or European eel or Japanese eel?

I've never seen one for sale, but I like their look.

What are they like characteristically? Do they make good aquarium fish?

[dredcon]

They not real pretty, but I liked mine untill he escaped the tank. I found him plastered to my tile floor by tons of dried slime, had to scrape him up with a screwdriver.

[dredcon]

American eels are a cool fish to keep simply because of their unique life history. I dont know of any other fish I can go to the river and catch that began their lives in the middle of the ocean.

[rumblesushi]

I agree, it's cool for sure. Was your American eel aggressive? How active was it?

I might try and catch a European eel.

[Jesse]

True eels (order Anguilliformes) have no pelvic fins and a fused dorsal/caudal/anal fin instead of three separate fins. Here's the fishbase order summary for Anguilliformes:

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/OrdersSummary.cfm?order=Anguilliformes

[guppy]

A couple of the worm or spaghetti eels are true freshwater and not catadromous, in addition to o the way they are finned and lacking pelvic bones they also have no gill arches, all the others are eel-like fish.

[wolverine]

EVERY BODY SAYS THERE IS NO SUTCH THING AS FRESH WATER MORAYS BUT I HAVE A EEL THAT LOOKS MORAY LIKE AND I BOUGHT HIM FROM A GUY WHO HAD HIM IN A FRESH WATER TANK FOR OVER A YEAR AND IVE HAD HIM FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS NOW

[wolverine]

BY THE WAY HE IS ABOUT 20 INCHES LONG

[rumblesushi]

That's a gymnothorax tile, sold as a freshwater moray but not a true freshwater fish. You're lucky it's been this long in freshwater, they usually get fungus and die.

Do you have any salt in the water?

[dr_sudz]

fire eels are part of the loach family. FYI

[wolverine]

no salt in the water it did take about 8 weeks for him to eat after i got him

[wolverine]

now he will only eat shrimp

[JardiniBoy]

fire eels are part of the loach family. FYI

Does that mean that they can be kept in fully freshwater setups?

JB

[guppy]

Fire eels prefer fully freshwater, they can tolerate very lightly brackish but are a FW species.
Wolverine, your eel will grow faster and be more resistant to infections if you add between 1-2 tablespoons of marine salt per 5 gallonsof water, they can go a long time in fresh but like violet gobies they do better with at least a little salt.