Scientific Name Of My "freshwater" Moray?

[MadCatter]

I've seen lots of different types of "freshwater" morays, but so many of them look very similar to mine, that I really have no idea what the scientific name is for my guy. I see a lot of the same photos for different names as well, which is not helpful.

The only defining characteristic of my eel is that he has little black spots near his "cheeks" but not directly on the jaw bone. This is one thing that I have not seen on any of the photos. He is ordinary sand-brown without any definate pattern or markings aside from the blackish spots. While I understand that most have the same/similar water conditions, it would be helpful to figure out exactly what this guy is =)

 

[erk628]

It would help us to identify him if you posted a pic of him. Also you may want to post this in the oddball section this is the brackish water section.

 

[MadCatter]

I will post there also. I figured this would work too, since it's a brackish fish. I need all the help I can get Unfortunately, the only camera I have at the moment is the iSight camera on my laptop. I'll see if I can borrow one from somebody however.

 

[erk628]

I will post there also. I figured this would work too, since it's a brackish fish. I need all the help I can get Unfortunately, the only camera I have at the moment is the iSight camera on my laptop. I'll see if I can borrow one from somebody however.

Well first you said that this eel was "freshwater" which isn't brackish now you say its brackish. Which one is it?

 

[MadCatter]

I will post there also. I figured this would work too, since it's a brackish fish. I need all the help I can get Unfortunately, the only camera I have at the moment is the iSight camera on my laptop. I'll see if I can borrow one from somebody however.

Well first you said that this eel was "freshwater" which isn't brackish now you say its brackish. Which one is it?

Hence the quotation marks. They're commonly called Freshwater Morays, and are in no way freshwater fish. Since they are commonly called Freshwater Morays, not Brackish Morays (though this would be a more suitable name), and I have no idea what the scientific name of my eel is (purpose of this thread), it made the most sense to call this eel a "Freshwater" Moray.



I'm not here to pick a fight, I'm here for the well-being of my eel

 

[erk628]

I will post there also. I figured this would work too, since it's a brackish fish. I need all the help I can get Unfortunately, the only camera I have at the moment is the iSight camera on my laptop. I'll see if I can borrow one from somebody however.

Well first you said that this eel was "freshwater" which isn't brackish now you say its brackish. Which one is it?

Hence the quotation marks. They're commonly called Freshwater Morays, and are in no way freshwater fish. Since they are commonly called Freshwater Morays, not Brackish Morays (though this would be a more suitable name), and I have no idea what the scientific name of my eel is (purpose of this thread), it made the most sense to call this eel a "Freshwater" Moray.



I'm not here to pick a fight, I'm here for the well-being of my eel

My bad guess I missed that part, sorry. Anyways make sure to post this in the oddball section to and if you can get a pic posted ASAP. Sorry again for the misunderstanding, hope you find out what kind of eel you have. I'll do a google search and see if I can find one that looks like the one you have described if I do I'll post some pics here and you can see if one looks like what you have.

 

[MadCatter]

My bad guess I missed that part, sorry. Anyways make sure to post this in the oddball section to and if you can get a pic posted ASAP. Sorry again for the misunderstanding, hope you find out what kind of eel you have. I'll do a google search and see if I can find one that looks like the one you have described if I do I'll post some pics here and you can see if one looks like what you have.

No harm done

This is the closest picture I've been able to find to my eel:

It's hard to tell however, because mine has those black spots that I haven't seen on any photos before (only 2, EDIT: I just coaxed him out of his hideout -almost grabbed my finger, though I doubt he would've been able to get much his head is so small - turns out there is only one spot, on his right side "throat/cheek" area. It doesn't look bad though.. thought he had two it looks so natural - apparently not!), and the eel in this photo seems older/bigger than my own.

 

[erk628]

The markings on your eel may be markings of younger ones and may fade out as he gets bigger. What I did was went to google and typed in brackish moray eels, found several sights but didn't see any that had the markings that you mentioned. If you haven't tried yet type in brackish moray eels on google and other search engines and see what you think of some of the pics. If you have posted this in the oddball section you may also want to post something about these marking and see if anyone knows if there permanite or if they will fade out as he gets bigger. I know some fish look alot different when there young compared to what they look like when there adults. One that comes to mind is the Tinfoil barb. Good luck and keep us updated if you finded aything out.

 

[MadCatter]

Looks exactly like this guy aside from the black patch/lack of in this photo, but maybe a little more slender (I assume because of an age difference). Thanks for your help Time to go update the oddballs forum as well This thread seems to be more updated, simply because there was somebody here to have a discussion with.

 

[andywg]

Getting the exact scientific name from only a description is almost impossible. A number of morays look very similar and many completely change their colours and markins as they grow from juvenile to adult.

One possible help might be if you can get hold of Scott Michael's "Reef Fishes Volume 1" as this has a very good chapter on moray eels.

 

[MadCatter]

Getting the exact scientific name from only a description is almost impossible. A number of morays look very similar and many completely change their colours and markins as they grow from juvenile to adult.

One possible help might be if you can get hold of Scott Michael's "Reef Fishes Volume 1" as this has a very good chapter on moray eels.

Is it likely that this thing will be in a library or local fish store?


Thanks for the suggestion I'm still trying to get ahold of a camera as well.


side question - What sort of power do these guys have in their jaw when they are still small (about 2/3 an inch wide)? I'd be curious to know what a bite would feel like, but I don't really want to get bit to find out He's nipped at my fingers before right after feeding him, but not fast, or hard, as he's just been swallowing everything and shying away from anything that moves when he tries to eat it.

it would certainly hurt if my puffer bit me, but I'm confident he'll never approach my hand, and I've been bit by large cichlids, without much damage... I figure its nice to know what to expect.. just in case.

 

[andywg]

Most morays won't bite you unless in extreme self defence. There are a few nasty ones (such as the green moray) but very few will strike an aquarist (I can't think of any examples I have heard off from the top of my head). Some of the morays carry bacteria on their teeth that causes wounds to become infected, though whether the bacteria would still be found in a closed system I am unsure.

I forgot to mention onoe of the most common sold "Freshwater" moray is Gymnothorax tile. I had a quick look through my copy of Reef Fishes and couldn't see a picture that looked like your moray (though he focuses on reef eels rather than esturine).

 

[moray]

hey Andy I got bitten by my Gymnothorax tile, ages ago when I was hand feeding. It wasn't the morays fault though, CFC started talking (you know what a chatterbox he can be ) and distracted me, moray came up to be fed, hadn't replaced the whitebait and what do you know I have a moray hanging off my finger, it let go more or less straight way and didn't bleed loads (luckily didn't get infected) - actually felt very similar and about the same amount of damage as when one of my corn snakes bit me when I was hand feeding and got distracted (hmmmm reminder to myself not to hand feed electric eel )

 

[AMS]

The are numerous "freshwater" moray eels, while only some of them are actually residents of pure freshwater. Even those who do reside in freshwater prefer at least brackish water in captivity.

Here's a list of the "freshwater" moray species (that I know of):
Uropterygius concolor
Gymnothorax tile
Echidna rhodochilus
Echidna leucotaenia
Gymnothorax polyurandon
Strophidon sathete
Thyrsoidea macrura
Uropterygius micropterus

I'm sure I'm missing a few in that list. Try fishbase.org and search for the above listed species and see if any results are yielded.

 

[Brackishdude]

The are numerous "freshwater" moray eels, while only some of them are actually residents of pure freshwater. Even those who do reside in freshwater prefer at least brackish water in captivity.

Here's a list of the "freshwater" moray species (that I know of):
Uropterygius concolor
Gymnothorax tile
Echidna rhodochilus
Echidna leucotaenia
Gymnothorax polyurandon
Strophidon sathete
Thyrsoidea macrura
Uropterygius micropterus

I'm sure I'm missing a few in that list. Try fishbase.org and search for the above listed species and see if any results are yielded.

Then copy-and-paste as you go and post the links here. That is a great list and lazy me'd love to see the pages at fishbase or other pics/descriptions. My contribution: the fishbase page for a species is almost always on the first page of google hits.