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Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepède, 1800)

Zig-zag eel
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Mastacembelus armatus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Synbranchiformes (Spiny eels) > Mastacembelidae (Spiny eels)
Etymology: Mastacembelus: Greek, mastax, -agos = bite + Greek, emballo = to throw oneself (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lacepède.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; pH range: 6.5 - 7.5; dH range: ? - 15; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672); 38°N - 1°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia: Pakistan to Viet Nam and Indonesia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 37770); max. published weight: 500.00 g (Ref. 9671)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 33 - 40; Dorsal soft rays (total): 67 - 82; Anal soft rays: 67 - 83; Vertebrae: 87 - 98. Body dull brown with 1-3 darker, longitudinal zigzag lines, more or less connected to form a reticulated pattern, more or less distinct and restricted to the dorsal two thirds of the body (Ref. 27732).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults live in highland streams to lowland wetlands (Ref. 57235). Usually found in streams and rivers with sand, pebble, or boulder substrate. They seldom leave the bottom except when disturbed. Also occur in still waters, both in coastal marshes and dry zone tanks. Sometimes stays partially buried in fine substrate. Enter flooded forest (Ref. 9497). Reported to occur in areas with rocky bottoms in the Mekong mainstream during the dry season, but enter canals, lakes and other floodplain areas during the flood season (Ref. 37770). Forages at night on benthic insect larvae, worms and some submerged plant material (Ref. 12693). Common during the summer months. Marketed fresh and frequently seen in the aquarium trade (Ref. 12693). Economic important species, both food and aquarium trades (Ref. 57235).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Pethiyagoda, R., 1991. Freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka. The Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, Colombo. 362 p. (Ref. 6028)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 August 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00372 (0.00276 - 0.00501), b=2.91 (2.82 - 3.00), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.8   ±0.27 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (56 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 261 [124, 515] mg/100g; Iron = 1.88 [0.89, 3.98] mg/100g; Protein = 17.4 [15.6, 19.2] %; Omega3 = 0.126 [0.064, 0.232] g/100g; Selenium = 22.6 [8.4, 64.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 14.9 [5.4, 38.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.19 [0.67, 2.32] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.