Tapir spiny eel
Macrognathus tapirus
Also known as Tapirus spiny eel, Python eel
FreshwaterFish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 73–82°F
- 23–28°C
- pH
- 5.0–6.8
- Adult size
- 8.3 in
- 21 cm
- Minimum tank
- 53 gal
- 200 L
- Temperament
- Mostly peaceful
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Tankmates
- With caution
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- No record
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Mastacembelidae
- Origin
- Kapuas basin, Borneo
Overview
The tapir spiny eel is a solitary, burrowing eel for a dim, soft-water tank. It suits a keeper who has kept a few fish before.
Did you know
The tapir spiny eel is named for the tapir, and the comparison fits. Both use a long, mobile, trunk-like snout to probe for food. The eel feels through sand and leaf litter much as the tapir noses through the forest floor.
Caring for the tapir spiny eel
Keep the tapir spiny eel in a tank of 53 gal (200 L) or larger, with fine sand and a close cover. It lies buried in the sand by day and wants dim, well-covered surroundings. Add driftwood and heavy leaf cover, and keep the light low and shaded.
Give it soft, acidic water at 73 to 82°F (23 to 28°C) and a pH of 5.0 to 6.8, with gentle flow. Tea-colored, tannin-rich water gives the tank the character of a swamp-forest stream. It comes out after dark to nose along the bottom. Feed meaty foods near the floor then, such as frozen bloodworm, live blackworm and small pieces of earthworm.
Keep it by itself, as it will not share a tank peacefully with another of its kind. It stays peaceful with fish too large to eat but regards small fish and shrimp as food. Keep it with calm, mid-sized tank mates. Like most of its family, it has no recorded aquarium breeding.
Good to know
Macrognathus tapirus is a spiny eel of the family Mastacembelidae. Maurice Kottelat and Enis Widjanarti described it in 2005. It also goes by the name python eel.
In the wild
The tapir spiny eel comes from the Kapuas basin in Borneo. It lives in soft, peat-stained blackwater swamps among leaf litter, roots and dense vegetation, foraging over muddy ground.
Common questions
What size tank does a tapir spiny eel need?
A tapir spiny eel needs at least 53 gal (200 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.
What temperature and pH does a tapir spiny eel need?
A tapir spiny eel is comfortable at 73–82°F (23–28°C) with a pH of 5.0–6.8.
What does a tapir spiny eel eat?
A tapir spiny eel eats meaty foods such as frozen bloodworm, live blackworm and small pieces of earthworm. Feed it near the floor after dark.
How big does a tapir spiny eel get?
An adult tapir spiny eel reaches about 8.3 in (21 cm).
Related species
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Macrognathus semiocellatus
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Macrognathus pancalus
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