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I went to another LFS and they have these eels they refer to as spaghetti eels. I ask what there scientific name was and they did not know, just said they come from india. The eels were about 3 inches long and literally no bigger than a pasta noodle. Has anybody seen or know of these lively litte creatures. OH! and there color was the same as a pasta noodle or close to it.

Did these Eels resemble baby Mastacembelid Spiny Eels by any chance, or were they extremely thin and wormlike?

Only I've encountered mention of a very unusual Eel in Practical Fishkeeping, one that counts as a species for Shini's Rare Fish List. This is Pisodonophis boro, the Glass Eel. I don't know if the Genus is monotypic (i.e., only has one species) or whether there are other members of the Genus, but this would be worth searching out.

For the record, Pisodonophis boro is a native of the Mekong River, and is euryhaline (i.e., can migrate from freshwater to brackish and fully marine environments). Although it reaches a metre in length, it is extremely slender. This is a fish that will eat anything that it can swallow, which in the case of larger specimens includes unwisely chosen tankmates. It is also capable of eating crabs.

Here is the Practical Fishkeeping link.


Last edited by Calilasseia at 11-Apr-2005 07:29

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Eels of the family Moringuidae are referred to as spaghetti eels. I found 14 species mostly marine with two listing freshwater habitats, one from china and this one from India:
Moringua raitaborua


Fishbase lists 15 species of Pisodonophis

Thanks for the replys. The glass eel looks like what I saw, I will have to look more closely next time I go there. (tomarrow, LOL) Unless the purple spaghetti-eel can also be found white I don't think thats it, like I said though I will have to look closer at them. Thanks again for the reply. Would definetly be bad in my tank.