White spot eel

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep the white spot eel singly, as it is a large, solitary fish that will not share a tank with its own kind. It buries in sand by day and works the bottom at night, so a deep, soft sand bed and roomy floor space are essential. It is calm with tankmates too big to swallow but will eat small and medium fish, so keep only large, even-tempered companions. Feed large meaty items such as earthworm, prawn, mussel, and chunks of tilapia or other white fish. This eel needs around 450 liters with a long footprint and a heavy, tight lid, as a fish this size exploits any gap.

In the wild

The white spot eel ranges across Sundaland, reported from Borneo and neighboring islands, mainly in upland streams and moving into lakes in the dry season. Give it a soft sand floor to bury in, wood and rock cover, and gentle to moderate flow. Warm water from about 23 to 28 C and a soft to neutral pH near 5.5 to 7.2 suit it, with clean, well-oxygenated conditions and enough space for a large, active eel.

Good to know

Mastacembelus unicolor, a member of the spiny eel family Mastacembelidae, reaches about 55 centimeters, one of the larger Asian species. Georges Cuvier described it in 1832 and named it unicolor, one-colored, for its plain ground color, though trade fish often show fine pale speckling. Its scales are small and sunk into the skin, as in others of the family. Aquarium breeding is unrecorded.

Did you know

Cuvier named this eel unicolor, meaning one-colored, for its plain appearance, yet the hobby sells the very same fish as the white spot eel for the fine pale flecks it commonly shows, so its scientific name and its trade name flatly disagree.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Marbled spiny eel

  Mastacembelus favus

  Freshwater

  19.7 in (50 cm)119 gal (450 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Blackedge spiny eel

  Mastacembelus nigromarginatus

  Freshwater

  19.7 in (50 cm)106 gal (400 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  White-spotted spiny eel

  Mastacembelus alboguttatus

  Freshwater

  19.3 in (49 cm)106 gal (400 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Eyespot spiny eel

  Mastacembelus notophthalmus

  Freshwater

  17.7 in (45 cm)106 gal (400 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)
• Tin Win's spiny eel

  Mastacembelus tinwini

  Freshwater

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

• 

  Tire-track eel

  Mastacembelus armatus

  Freshwater

  27.6 in (70 cm)119 gal (450 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)