My leopard eel

nice it called a Tire track eel

You were close on the ID. It is actually a Mastacembelus favus. The only clear difference at that size is the presence of the pattern on its belly (Mastacembelus armatus, which grow much larger, have a completely uniform ventral coloration). Very nice specimen you have, nice to see one that is well fed (around here, they usually come into pet stores with the girth of a shoelace).

downing2011 said:

at his small size he takes full sized worms at once, he loves to eat. Thank you very much for the ID, much appreciated.
is this one of the more common types of eels?

Is this a tire track? i thought Mastacembelus armatus was, both?

Click to expand...

They are relatively common, yes. However, they technically aren't eels, despite their common names (true eels are species of the order Anguilliformes, whereas spiny eels, such as the tire track eels, are in the order Synbranchiformes). And to answer your other question: the thing about common names is that they are not very specific, and they are often completely inaccurate since it is not an official naming system. "Tire Track Eel" is a common name that is used for 3, sometimes 4 different species: Mastacembelus armatus, Mastacembelus favus, Macrognathus circumcinctus, and occasionally Mastacembelus dayi.

keep us updated as he grows

cool eel

update? he should be a stunner