We could import this new discovery – a spiny eel – for the first time now from Burma. Initially I thought it would be a member of the M.-armatus-group, but the specialist for spiny eels, Ralf Britz from Natural History Museum in London led me to the idea to take a closer look on the caudal fin. Indeed this fin is fairly separated from the dorsal and the anal fin in Mastacembelus sp. „Nargis“ , while it is merged with these fins in the M.-armatus-group. Ralf thinks that M. sp. Nargis is closest to M. caudiocellatus, but of course he also says that more and detailed observations have to be done to proof this. In the meantime it is best to name the fish Mastacembelus sp. „Nargis“.
It is much likely that Mastacembelus sp. „Nargis“ belongs to the medium sized members of the genus and will attain a maximum length of about 25 cm or so. Our (short) experience with the fish shows that it is as peaceful, gregarious and secretly as one expects from a member of this relationship.
For our customers: the fish have code 426215 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in limited numbers only!
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
