Tanganyika striped spiny eel

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep the Tanganyika striped spiny eel singly, as it is solitary and territorial with its own kind, while mixing well with larger, hard-water tankmates. It hunts along rocky shallows and buries in sand, keeping to the bottom and emerging to forage in quieter hours. It is peaceful toward fish too big to swallow but will eat small ones, so choose medium-sized, even-tempered companions. Feed meaty foods such as chopped earthworm, prawn, and frozen bloodworm, with the odd piece of mussel. A tank of around 300 liters with sand, generous rockwork, and a secure lid suits it.

In the wild

The Tanganyika striped spiny eel is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, in shallow water over rocky bottoms. It needs the lake's hard, alkaline chemistry: a pH from about 7.8 to 9.0 and warm water near 24 to 27 C. Give it a sand base for burrowing, piled rock with narrow gaps to explore, and clean, stable, well-oxygenated water, since it is adapted to a large and chemically steady lake.

Good to know

Mastacembelus plagiostomus is a spiny eel of the family Mastacembelidae, endemic to Lake Tanganyika and reaching about 35 centimeters, banded in gold and umber. The name means oblique-mouthed, after the angled set of its jaws. It is one of the lake's endemic radiation of spiny eels. No aquarium breeding has been recorded.

Did you know

The name plagiostomus means slant-mouthed, describing the obliquely set jaws of this Lake Tanganyika endemic, a mouth shape well suited to picking small food from the crevices and surfaces of the rocky lake floor.

Common questions

Related species

• Tanganyika spotted spiny eel

  Mastacembelus ellipsifer

  Freshwater

  17.7 in (45 cm)79 gal (300 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Malawi spiny eel

  Mastacembelus shiranus

  Freshwater

  10.2 in (26 cm)66 gal (250 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Liberian spiny eel

  Mastacembelus liberiensis

  Freshwater

  15 in (38 cm)79 gal (300 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Greshoff's spiny eel

  Mastacembelus greshoffi

  Freshwater

  15 in (38 cm)79 gal (300 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Brichard's spiny eel

  Mastacembelus brichardi

  Freshwater

  6.7 in (17 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Eyespot spiny eel

  Mastacembelus notophthalmus

  Freshwater

  17.7 in (45 cm)106 gal (400 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)