fish id needed?

[a.i.m]

Ive just got an eel, its body seems a light brown / red , then its tail is very red, with a row of black spots on its upper fin of the tail.
I was told its a clown eel?

Any help would be appreciated.

Tnx.

 

[CFC]

Sounds like a fire eel Mastacembelus erythrotaenia, a picture would help for a proper ID.

 

[a.i.m]

nope its not a fire eel, as fire eels have red or yellow stripes.
my eel has a red tail with black spots , its main part of the body has brown / red colouring.

sorry no camera for a photo id .

 

[wrs]

a fire track eel?

http/a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/2005...ge/lg_89853.jpg

 

[CFC]

That would be a TYRE track eel WRS

Fire eels come in various patterns ranging from those with stripes all the way down the length of the body to those with no stripes at all and just a few large spots on the caudal fin, unfortunately pictures of Mastacembelus eels are in short supply on the internet and i have been unable to find pictures showing the various morphs.

 

[a.i.m]

ive a book with a pic of a lesser spiny eel, this eel looks kinda similar with the row of black spots on its upper tail fin, but the colouration is still wrong.
spiny eels are green / yellow colour, and my one is half bright red and the other half browny red.

 

[a.i.m]

The fish shop didnt realise if had this eel in its tank, it must of came in with a shipment undetected, as they've never had eels in for sale before.

I spotted its head poking out of a rocky cave.

the shop assistent said it looked awsum as so did i!!

Ill have it and give it to my son for his birthday on monday along with a clown plec!

 

[OohFeeshy]

Don't forget eels tend to get VERY big. Whatever it is, it will most likely require a very large tank in the future, so I'd ID it positively before you think about giving it to your son.

 

[a.i.m]

I asked the shop assistent what size it would grow to ( was it a tank buster ?) , he assured me it shouldnt grow much larger than 12 - 13 " . B)

 

[Paul_MTS]

does it have a pointed nose or is a bit rounded at the end?

a picture would be the best option here.

 

[SirMinion]

I wonder if what you have there is one of 120-or-so species of brackish/marine Moray eel.

The description sounds a lot like Gymnothorax formosus, but this is rarely imported so I doubt it is, but there are a myriad of morays with similar patterns.

There are over 600 species of true eels, but of course it might not be an eel at all, it might be an 'eel like' fish such one of the many species of 'snake eels', which are actually gobies, 'worm eels' (gobies again) 'dragon eels' (and again with the gobies), 'wolf eels' (blennies) or 'dinosaur eels' (polypterus-unlikely)

 

[a.i.m]

It has a pointed nose, ill try and get a photo done over the weekend.

 

[daudy_dojo]

... well sounds like a snow eel (?)

 

[sylvia]

Look up the various spiny eels. They mostly get to about 12-14" (well, actualy, some get to 30", others don't realy surpass 8"...) and have a distinctly pointy nose. As far as colors go though, they are variable and it depends on the species so I wouldn't know. You'd better hope, BTW, that you do have a spiny eel. If you have a moray, things are going to get complicated... Go look up some google images

 

[a.i.m]

nice 1 syvia,
its a MACROGNATHUS ACULEATUS, Spiny Peacock eel .

Yaaaay, found images on google.

Thanks every one for your help!!