Is this a fire eel?
- Thread starter Cichla dude
- Start date
I think it might be a young fire eel. i'm not familiar with juvenile fires. I have peacock and tire tracks. This is straight out of Wikipedia and note the portion on juvenile coloring:
Physical description
The fire eel is an extremely elongated fish with a distinctive pointed snout and underslung mouth. The body is laterally compressed particularly at the rear third where it flattens as it joins the caudal fin and forms an extended tail. It is part of a group of fishes called spiny eels that also includes Tire Track and Peacock eels. The group gets the "spiny" part of its common name from the many small dorsal spines that precede the dorsal fin. The frie eel's base colouring is dark brown/grey, while the belly is generally a lighter shade of the same colour. The pattern varies from fish to fish. Usually several bright red lateral stripes and spots mark the body. The red markings vary in intensity depending on the age and condition of the specimen. Usually the markings are yellow/amber in juvenile fish, changing to a deep red in larger ones. Often the anal, pectoral, and dorsal fins have a red edging.
The name "eel" is a reference to the body shape; the fire eel is not a true eel.
The fire eel can grow to a very considerable size in the wild with specimens often exceeding 1.2 m in length. However, due to limiting factors in the captive environment they usually reach a maximum of around 55 cm even in very large aquaria.
Physical description
The fire eel is an extremely elongated fish with a distinctive pointed snout and underslung mouth. The body is laterally compressed particularly at the rear third where it flattens as it joins the caudal fin and forms an extended tail. It is part of a group of fishes called spiny eels that also includes Tire Track and Peacock eels. The group gets the "spiny" part of its common name from the many small dorsal spines that precede the dorsal fin. The frie eel's base colouring is dark brown/grey, while the belly is generally a lighter shade of the same colour. The pattern varies from fish to fish. Usually several bright red lateral stripes and spots mark the body. The red markings vary in intensity depending on the age and condition of the specimen. Usually the markings are yellow/amber in juvenile fish, changing to a deep red in larger ones. Often the anal, pectoral, and dorsal fins have a red edging.
The name "eel" is a reference to the body shape; the fire eel is not a true eel.
The fire eel can grow to a very considerable size in the wild with specimens often exceeding 1.2 m in length. However, due to limiting factors in the captive environment they usually reach a maximum of around 55 cm even in very large aquaria.
keep an eye on this post. i'm sure that you will get additional replies from people who have had young fires. good luck. no matter what it is, it's a very pretty fish.
It looks like a baby fire eel to me. How big is he? I got two of my fire eels at about 6-7". they did not have that distinct of a strip along their back, but their spines are red. This could be a maturity thing. From what I can tell, it looks pretty healthy and fat for its size. Usually, I see a lot of skinny eels. Heads up that on a good diet, these guys grow fast. My little guys went from 6-7" to 22" in 1.5 years and were at 18" at 1 year.
Edit: BTW, Fire eels are freaking fantastic fish! As they have gotten older, they are so interactive.
Edit: BTW, Fire eels are freaking fantastic fish! As they have gotten older, they are so interactive.
It looks like a fire eel to me. The pattern is different than most of the ones I've seen, but looks nice and healthy.
