'Spiny eel' ID please. Pic
- Thread starter Libpete
- Start date
Thanks. So thats the Zigzag eel is it? It was sold labled only as spiny eel, but I was told its much more relaxed than the fire eel.
Great little fish he is! I havent seen him dig in my sand yet (he was dug in gravel at the store) but I have a huge clump of moss and he loves it in there, occasionally popping his head out.
Fed him today for the first time on bloodworms. He ate three today then seemed to be full and retreated back into cover.
starry night eel. Mine is prolly close too 12" atm.. I keep it in the same tank with my juvi fire eel and they get along very well, there are also small fish in the tank that have been left alone... my fire eel is more aggressive. They are like spaghetti string no matter how much you feed them they just grow longer not fatter... they do look similar to zig zags but there are some deffinate differences.
I did see a picture of a starry night eel and a black spot eel and both looked similar. Im just assuming it was quite a common one as I only got it from my local small store (UK).
I hope it does get a little fatter, it's like half the thickness of a pencil right now, ha. I dont mind which kind I have, I just like to research online for hours about new fishes so knowing the exact species is helpful. Someone else told me it was the tire track eel, hopefully we will know for sure when it gets a bit older.
Cheers. Great forum btw, only just found it.
Just found this, it looks identical. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?337504-STarry-Night-Eel
Mastacembelus frenatus - Longtail spiny eel - Starry night eel
There isnt much info on this African eel online, seems to be a fairly uncommon one but its definitely the one I have. It was cheap too at £3.99 ($7ish) I managed to find out it gets to about 12" in the aquarium 15" in the wild.
There isnt much info on this African eel online, seems to be a fairly uncommon one but its definitely the one I have. It was cheap too at £3.99 ($7ish) I managed to find out it gets to about 12" in the aquarium 15" in the wild.
I wouldn't be surprized if they get bigger.. mines less then 1yr old and already in the "captive max" range.
btw good deal... I got mine for the same 7$usd when he was just a lil' thing at like 4" And I'm not sure if Frenatus is the accurate ID.. the enlarged lips aren't there... but it may be a sexual dimophisim, breeding related, or age related even.. idk but I've never seen one with the enlarged lips like Frenatus has.