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Brandi

My TFH back numbers have struck again.

December 1977 issue, "Mail Call" section (Q & A letters section for readers), pages 71 & 72. Letter from one Johnny Zuniga, San Antonio, Texas, asking about Tyre-Track Eels (although he uses the American spelling of Tire-Track Eel, as might be expected!).

The TFH staff answered his letter by saying that no less than three species of Mastacembelid Spiny Eel were known by the common name of "Tyre-Track Eel". These three species are: Mastacembelus armatus, Mastacembelus loennbergi (I remembered that one correctly!) and Mastacembelus zebrinus. The black and white illustrations show that the one most likely to have the true 'tread pattern' on its body is Mastacembelus armatus, which has a wide-spaced reticulated pattern on its body resembling the kind of marks you'd get in mud from a cross-ply tyre. It also resembles, in the black and white photo at least, the kind of colour pattern you'd see on large pythons from Asia. The letter stated that at that time (1977) captive breeding of Mastacembelids was virtually unknown, although the first reports of the spawning of Mastacembelus pancalus were beginning to filter through into the hobby press. So, the three scientific names to perform your Google search on are (listed below with wide spacing to allow you to copy & paste more easily!):

Mastacembelus armatus

Mastacembelus loennbergi

Mastacembelus zebrinus

Be advised that these taxonomic names are of late 1970's vintage, and may have changed. However, you should still be able to find web pages containing information on these fishes courtesy of these scientific names, as hobbyists who create web pages for their fishes tend to be less fussy about sticking to the very latest names than professional taxonomists

However, some general pointers for you to be aware of: if your Eel is one of the above species, then be prepared for it to become large. All three species above should be expected to reach up to 20 inches in length in sufficiently spacious quarters. They are also 'stealth predators', mostly feeding at dusk and dawn (technically known as 'crepuscular' fishes), and so during acclimatisation, they are best fed just after "lights out". After a couple of weeks or so, your Eel will realise that you, its owner, are responsible for the food morsels, and will become bolder and more active during daylight hours. Most Mastacembelids are fairly hardy, capable of living in a variety of water conditions, although most of them will NOT tolerate salt. The Fire Eel, Mastacembelus erythrotaenia, may (but only may) be an exception, but that species is aytpical of the Genus in several respects, being much more delicate than its relations, considerably bigger than several others (the Fire Eel can reach a metre in length!) and considerably more fussy about feeding.

If your Tyre-Track Eel is one of the three species I've already cited above, then their maintenance requirements consist principally of lots of space, a substrate that they can bury themselves in (soft, round-grained river sand is probably a good choice - avoid coarse gravel, and NEVER put them in with a substrate that has sharp edged particles in it), and furnishings resembling the rainforest submerged root tangles that they would inhabit in the wild. These can be further decorated with java Ferns, which thankfully will live in low light, something else that these fishes appreciate. Alternatively, you could have standard lighting, but provide shade with floating plants or strategically positioned pieces of card on top of the cover glass. Arrange your bogwood pieces (which they will curl around and explore once settled) so as to form caves, arches, and natural-looking root arrangements, providing them with lots of hiding places, and Spiny Eels will appreciate this provision of furnishings and prosper.

The other major requirement with these fishes is LOTS of care and attention with respect to openings for filter tubes, heater cables and the like. Spiny Eels are notorious escape artists, and are apt to go carpet surfing, especially if their quarters are too small for them. They can squeeze their bodies through seemingly impossible tiny gaps, so pay special attention to these, and make sure that your Spiny Eels have lots of space, lots of hiding places to reduce the 'wanderlust', and secure covers. Small ones will eat Bloodworm and similar live foods (they prefer their food to move, but can be weaned onto dead foods with care), but large ones are incompatible with all but large companions - they will try to eat even fairly substantial fishes once adult, and a 20-inch specimen has a large mouth, an appetite to match, and a skilful approach to predation that will probably leave no clues other than absent fishes the following morning. In this respect they should be regarded in a manner akin to some of the Big Pim catfishes, namely opportunists that will happily succumb to whatever temptation you are foolish enough to give them, and therefore you should avoid housing them with anything other than similar sized fishes, and preferably larger ones. Do not house your Spiny Eels with aggressive fishes such as big dovii Cichlids, companions should be peaceful but able to look after themselves. Alteranatively, a species aquarium may be in order.

Hopefully, this should prove helpful.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

i did a search for Mastacembelus loennbergi and found that the images that came up look most like the species i've seen often referred to as "zigzag eel". i believe these stay smaller than the ones more commonly placed as "tiretrack eels"--attaining only 8-12 inches. BUT there is so little good info on the various species and subspecies of spiny eels out there...and there is a lot of variation. when i searched for Macrognathus aculeatus, images came up looking like that, like usual tiretracks, and like peacock eels! it seems like aculeatus is used for just about anything, but i have most often seen it used (along with siamensis) for varieties of peacock eel. Macrognathus armatus is another scientific name i've seen used for various eels, usually tiretrack/zigzag.

my conclusion: reporting for accurate scientific names and common names on the internet is a mess. there is a big need for someone to synthesize information and throw out the junk.

[span class="edited"][Edited by pygmyhippo 2004-07-18 10:10][/span]

Tire Track Eel. Two possibilities. One of which is Mastacembelus loennbergi. I think Macrognathus aculeatus might sometimes be listed under that common name too, but it's much more likely to be Mastacembelus loennbergi or a near relation. Do a Google search on that scientific name and see if you get a match. The fish should have a 'tread pattern' body marking hence the name.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

ok np tonight while he's out i'll try.

Hey hunny!
I forgot that you have a digital camera. You should get a pic and post it. If you need help (haha, yeah right) give me a call
Brandi

here is a pic if my spiny eel...prob not the one though

gold batik spiny eel]http://

well the picture i saw of a tiretrack looks just like the spiney for the most part it's shape and head are simular, but the coloring is a dark brownish black with a large white stripe on his top (i would say back but i guess he don't really have one )and his underside is the same white as his top stripe but has what looks like a triangular line pattern.

u say it looks a little like a tyre track eel? u mean the colouration and pattern is similar? choco's description is totally differant from a tyre track though

Hello all i'm glad to see some people are so helpful as you all, but unfortunately my eel doesn't especially look like any of them it looks slightly like the tiretrack so i can see how it would of been mislabeled. it's his coloring and pattern if i can get a pic of him i'll send to brandi to post it for your consulting. oh yeah by the way i'm the lovely chocobobabe's bf. thanks for the help

The Spiney "Eel" family:

http://www.fishbase.org/NomenClature/ScientificNameSearchList.cfm?Crit1_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynGenus&Crit1_FieldType=CHAR&Crit1_Operator=EQUAL&Crit1_Value=Mastacembelus&Crit2_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynSpecies&Crit2_FieldType=CHAR&Crit2_Operator=contains&Crit2_Value=&group=summary&backstep=-2

The freshwater and maybe one or two brackish Swamp "Eels":

http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/FamilySearchList.cfm?famcode1=262&famcode2=&Group=species

True eels that might be bought in freshwater but will have to go salt at some point:

http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/FamilySearchList.cfm?famcode1=49&famcode2=&Group=species

occasionally brackish/rarely freshwater marine Eeels:

http://www.fishbase.org/NomenClature/ScientificNameSearchList.cfm?Crit1_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynGenus&Crit1_FieldType=CHAR&Crit1_Operator=EQUAL&Crit1_Value=Echidna&Crit2_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynSpecies&Crit2_FieldType=CHAR&Crit2_Operator=contains&Crit2_Value=&group=summary&backstep=-2

Some true Eels some of which are freshwater a lot of which can go brackish and of course marine:

http://www.fishbase.org/NomenClature/ScientificNameSearchList.cfm?Crit1_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynGenus&Crit1_FieldType=CHAR&Crit1_Operator=EQUAL&Crit1_Value=Gymnothorax&Crit2_FieldName=SYNONYMS.SynSpecies&Crit2_FieldType=CHAR&Crit2_Operator=contains&Crit2_Value=&group=summary&backstep=-2



That should get you started

Koi

[span class="edited"][Edited by koi keeper 2004-07-15 16:26][/span]

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Well here we go. My b/f got a new eel yesterday. It was sold under the name "tiretrack eel". We couldn't find any information on it other than the fact that the tiretrack is also know as the spiny eel. However, extensive searching shows us that this is definitely not that kind of eel.

It has the same pointy nose as a spiny eel. The pet store said that the only thing it will eat are frozen blood worms, which it loves. It is completely black and white...black with a wide white stripe going from his head to his tail. The guy at the store said it would stay pretty small, but we already figure he didn't know what he was talking about.
Does anyone know what this eel is?
Brandi

Well if you have time I can give you links to the three main eel families. You can go through the pictures and see if you see yours...

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Thank you Koi for your help, but none of those match either. The one that comes closest is the first unknown eel, but his does not have any dots at all. It's all completely black with one big white stripe on his back. This is kind of weird...
Brandi

http://fnp_eel.tripod.com/eel/eel.htm

???look at the unknown spiney in the above link; look like yours?

another possibility:



Siamese spiney eel

I won't bother to post the freshwater moray eel because your description of just a stripe doesn't match it. Though black and white does perfectly.

koi[/font][/font]



[span class="edited"][Edited by koi keeper 2004-07-15 12:18][/span]

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

That's what we're figuring, so that's why I posted this thread.
Brandi

Its possible the fish was mis-labled.

My question is, when I go to look up specifically the "Tiretrack Eel", only pics of different looking ones come up?
Brandi

Snowflakes are Morays. They have rounded noses and look quite different from Spiny Eels.

The Spiny Eels have a whole family: Mastacembelidae (sp?!?!?!?!). It contains a number of "eels" that are sold. They include the the Peacock Eel, the Fire Eel, the Tiretrack Eel, and a number of species of fish called Spiny Eels.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Hmmm im not sure, but it doesnt sound like a snow-flake since u said it has a pointy head.