Unknown Spiny Eel species acquired

[PoseidonCichlid]

Hi everyone, I currently have a fire eel, a tiretrack eel and a peacock eel and I'm always on the lookout for interesting spiny eels. My new 4th spiny eel is unfamiliar to me, it has a color scheme and pattern I haven't seen before. Hopefully someone here knows, the seller didn't! Thanks for your help.

 

[PoseidonCichlid]

The Pic

This pic didn't go out in the 1st msg.

 

[bettaowner]

I've seen a fish similar to that sold as a starry night spiny eel. I'm trying to find a scientific name.

 

[PoseidonCichlid]

starry night eel

A couple of people have told me it's a starry night eel, thanks for your help. The head/body proportion is totally different than any other spiny I've seen, he looks much more like a sea snake than a spiny!

 

[sinibotia]

Afromastacembelus frenatus?

 

[BLUElobster99]

That fish is stunning! How much did you pay for it?

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[PoseidonCichlid]

That fish is stunning! How much did you pay for it?

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Not much! It was just labeled spiny eel, I knew it was way different from personal experience but didn't know exactly what species it was. Had there been more of them I would have probably taken them all but it was the only one! I'm almost embarrassed to say I only paid like $14 for it! It was the oddball in the spiny eel shipment (the rest were tiretracks, fires, peacocks and zig zags). Best part is, he took frozen bloodworms on day 1!

 

[BLUElobster99]

That is an amazing find

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[PoseidonCichlid]

If I were to give folks a tip on tracking down the unusual it would be to checkout the Chinatown in their nearest major city. Most have huge multi-story or giant warehouse aquariums hidden in the middle of a busy block (usually in between shops selling live fish and other animals for human consumption, LOL!) They get tons of deliveries from all over the world, their stock turns over weekly, and the stuff you find in there! I sometimes wonder if the species they have are all legal to sell! Probably not, but the authorities seem very reluctant to do anything about it. Until they do, the smorgasbord is yours!

 

[PoseidonCichlid]

There is a great new Starry Night Eel video posted on Youtube by the man who first I.D.ed my eel, his is much larger than my little 6in baby, around 14 inches! You get a great comparison of their body shape with other spinys, much thinner and snakelike. If you like it I'm sure he'd appreciate a few thumbs up.



Eel tank - YouTube