Mastacembelus

Mastacembelus

The genus Mastacembelus contains over 60 species and is therefore the genus with the most species within the Mastacembelidae family. In Dutch, this family is also called Spiny Eels. This is because the dorsal fin contains clearly separated dorsal spines. These spines are completely harmless to humans.

Etymology

The name Mastacembelus is derived from the family name. The name consists of two ancient Greek words. Mastax means ‘bite’ or ‘mouthful’. Emballo means to throw yourself at something. However, Mastax has a second meaning, namely beak or upper lip. Taken together, the name could mean ‘to throw yourself at something bitingly’ or ‘to throw the upper lip forward’. You can see them doing the latter when they sniff around with their noses.

Origin

Mastacembelus can be found in Asia and Africa. In Africa, with about 45 species, the most occur. Of these, Lake Tanganyika is a place where many species occur. The lake has 15 species, of which 14 only occur in Lake Tanganyika (endemic).

Appearance

Mastacembelus resemble Eels but are not remotely related to true Eels. You can clearly distinguish Mastacembelus from other eels by the nose. This is much longer than that of true Eels. The nose also has two tubular nostrils that protrude.The smallest species are Mastacembelus latens and Mastacembellus simba which do not grow larger than about seven to eight centimeters. The longest is Mastacembelus erythrotaenia , this species can reach a length of about 100 centimeters.

The Mastacembelus species

Below you will find the list of Mastacembelus species that we have not yet included in the database. Below that, with photo, the species that we have already added.

• Mastacembelus ansorgii
• Mastacembelus apectoralis
• Mastacembelus aviceps
• Mastacembelus batesii
• Mastacembelus brachyrhinus
• Mastacembelus catchpolei
• Mastacembelus congicus
• Mastacembelus crassus
• Mastacembelus cryptacanthus
• Mastacembelus cunningtoni
• Mastacembelus decorsei
• Mastacembelus ellipsifer
• Mastacembelus flavidus
• Mastacembelus flavomarginatus
• Mastacembelus goro
• Mastacembelus greshoffi
• Mastacembelus kakrimensis
• Mastacembelus latens
• Mastacembelus liberiensis
• Mastacembelus loennbergii
• Mastacembelus malabaricus
• Mastacembelus marchei
• Mastacembelus mastacembelus (
• Mastacembelus micropectus
• Mastacembelus moorii
• Mastacembelus niger
• Mastacembelus nigromarginatus
• Mastacembelus notophthalmus
• Mastacembelus oatesii
• Mastacembelus ophidium
• Mastacembelus pantherinus
• Mastacembelus paucispinis
• Mastacembelus plagiostomus
• Mastacembelus platysoma
• Mastacembelus polli
• Mastacembelus praensis
• Mastacembelus reygeli
• Mastacembelus robertsi
• Mastacembelus sanagali
• Mastacembelus seiteri
• Mastacembelus sexdecimspinus
• Mastacembelus shiloangoensis
• Mastacembelus simbi
• Mastacembelus strigiventus
• Mastacembelus taiaensis
• Mastacembelus tanganicae
• Mastacembelus tinwini
• Mastacembelus traversi
• Mastacembelus triolobus
• Mastacembelus trispinosus
• Mastacembelus undulatus
• Mastacembelus unicolor
• Mastacembelus vanderwaali
• Mastacembelus zebratus