Fire eel
Encyclopedia
The fire eel is a large freshwater
fish found in Cambodia
, Indonesia
, Laos
, Malaysia, Thailand
, and Vietnam
.
(not a true eel
) with a distinctive pointed snout and underslung mouth. The body is laterally compressed, particularly 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 eel
s that also includes Tire Track
and Peacock eel
s. The group gets the "spiny" part of its common name from the many small dorsal spines that precede the dorsal fin
. The fire eel's base coloring is dark brown/grey, while the belly is generally a lighter shade of the same color. The pattern varies by individual. 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 individual. 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 fire eel can grow to a very considerable size in the wild
with specimens often exceeding 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length. However, due to limiting factors in the captive environment they usually reach a maximum of around 55 centimetres (21.7 in) even in very large aquaria.
environments with slow to briskly moving water and fine sediment
. In the wild they occur across a relatively broad area covering a large part of Southeast Asia
including Borneo
, India
, Malaysia, Myanmar
(Burma), Sri Lanka
, Sumatra
, and Thailand
. They are bottom-dwellers that spend large portions of their time buried in the riverbed, often leaving only their snout visible. However, they are voracious predators and when hunting will visit all depths.
measuring 60 centimetres (23.6 in) and75 litres (19.8 US gal) and are peaceful and undestructive (although their burrowing nature means that they can uproot plants and move bogwood etc).
Larger fish require disproportionately larger tanks and their companions must be of commensurate size to deter the fiery predator. They have a tendency to fight with other fish of the same species.
Fire eels are intelligent. They quickly learn to recognise their keeper and even readily accept food from the hand. Water should be 25–27 °C (77–80.6 F) with a pH
of 6–7.5. A little salt is welcomed but not essential.
Fire eels often escape uncovered tanks.
Many of the fish may eat only live food, including tubifex
, fish, brine shrimp
, mosquito
larvae
, bloodworms, mussel
s etc.
Captive spawn
ing is rare and extremely difficult, even with mature fish over 20 inches (50.8 cm). Use a large tank with a pH around 7.0, a water hardness from 10–15 dH, and a temperature from 27–29 °C (80.6–84.2 F). They lay 800–1,200 eggs in floating plants (plant spawner). The eggs are clear and measure around 1 millimetre (0.0393700787401575 in) in size. The young grow quickly, gorging on as much food as is available. Excess food can compromise their health.
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
fish found in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Malaysia, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Description
The fire eel is an extremely elongated fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
(not a true eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
) with a distinctive pointed snout and underslung mouth. The body is laterally compressed, particularly 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 eel
Spiny eel
The name spiny eel is used to describe members of two different families of fish: the freshwater Mastacembelidae of Asia and Africa, and the marine Notacanthidae. Both are so-named because of their eel-like shape and sturdy fin spines....
s that also includes Tire Track
Tire track eel
The Tire track eel is a species of ray-finned, spiny eels belonging to the genus Mastacembelus of the family Mastacembelidae, and is native to the riverine fauna of India, Pakistan, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia and other parts of South East Asia. The species was named...
and Peacock eel
Macrognathus siamensis
Macrognathus siamensis is a tropical fish belonging to the Mastacembelidae family.As an aquarium fish it is known with the common name Peacock Eel or Peacock Spiny Eel.-Description and ecology:...
s. The group gets the "spiny" part of its common name from the many small dorsal spines that precede the dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
. The fire eel's base coloring is dark brown/grey, while the belly is generally a lighter shade of the same color. The pattern varies by individual. 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 individual. Usually the markings are yellow/amber in juvenile fish, changing to a deep red in larger ones. Often the anal, pectoral, and dorsal fins
FINS
FINS is a network protocol used by Omron PLCs, over different physical networks like Ethernet, Controller Link, DeviceNet and RS-232C....
have a red edging.
The fire eel can grow to a very considerable size in the wild
Wild
The term wild generally refers to:* Wildlife, all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms* Wilderness or Wilderness area, a natural environment on Earth* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamedWild may also refer to:...
with specimens often exceeding 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in length. However, due to limiting factors in the captive environment they usually reach a maximum of around 55 centimetres (21.7 in) even in very large aquaria.
Wild populations
Fire eels inhabit riverRiver
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
environments with slow to briskly moving water and fine sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
. In the wild they occur across a relatively broad area covering a large part of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
including Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Malaysia, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
(Burma), Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. They are bottom-dwellers that spend large portions of their time buried in the riverbed, often leaving only their snout visible. However, they are voracious predators and when hunting will visit all depths.
Aquarium care
Young fish generally adapt very well to a community aquarium. Small specimens up to around 15 centimetres (5.9 in) can be kept in a tankTank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
measuring 60 centimetres (23.6 in) and75 litres (19.8 US gal) and are peaceful and undestructive (although their burrowing nature means that they can uproot plants and move bogwood etc).
Larger fish require disproportionately larger tanks and their companions must be of commensurate size to deter the fiery predator. They have a tendency to fight with other fish of the same species.
Fire eels are intelligent. They quickly learn to recognise their keeper and even readily accept food from the hand. Water should be 25–27 °C (77–80.6 F) with a pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
of 6–7.5. A little salt is welcomed but not essential.
Fire eels often escape uncovered tanks.
Many of the fish may eat only live food, including tubifex
Tubifex
Tubifex is a cosmopolitan genus of tubificid Annelids that inhabit the sediments of lakes, rivers and occasionally sewer lines. There are over ten known species of Tubifex, but the number is not certain, as the species are not easily distinguishable from each other.-Food and feeding:Tubifex worms...
, fish, brine shrimp
Brine shrimp
Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...
, mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
larvae
Larvae
In Roman mythology, lemures were shades or spirits of the restless or malignant dead, and are probably cognate with an extended sense of larvae as disturbing or frightening...
, bloodworms, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s etc.
Captive spawn
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
ing is rare and extremely difficult, even with mature fish over 20 inches (50.8 cm). Use a large tank with a pH around 7.0, a water hardness from 10–15 dH, and a temperature from 27–29 °C (80.6–84.2 F). They lay 800–1,200 eggs in floating plants (plant spawner). The eggs are clear and measure around 1 millimetre (0.0393700787401575 in) in size. The young grow quickly, gorging on as much food as is available. Excess food can compromise their health.