Eel ID please

[Cougra]

I was at the LFS today and noticed they had a large eel in one of there display tanks. I think it's an awesome looking eel but I'm not sure what kind of eel is this. Could anyone help ID it?

[BoomerD]

That sure looks like this fellow:

Tessalata Eel (Gymnothorax favagineus) grows up to 70 inches. The Tessalata Eel prefers a tank of at least 200 gallons with plenty of places to hide & swim. The Gymnothorax favagineus is a carnivore and likes to eat meaty treats (like live feeder, fiddler crabs, small fish & grass shrimp). The Tessalata Eel is a low maintenance fish and may act peacefully toward other fish. Not reef-safe. Needs plenty of places to hide (substrate). PVC pipe may help. Will peak out of tank. Gymnothorax favagineus (Bloch & Schneider 1801), the Leopard Moray is one of the few members of the genus I can honestly endorse for home use. Most just get too big and mean. It is a handsome brownish black overall with a network of white to yellow reticulations. Keep water quality high (SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F). The Tessalata Eel is commonly collected from Sri Lanka.

[Maxx]

Yup...its a tesselatta moray...also known as a chain link moray, Carnivore......
FO/ Aggressive, and big if your looking at compatible (read non edible) tank mates.
Nick

[Cougra]

Thanks for the ID's guys. I saw it at the LFS and thought it looked awesome! I have NO plans on getting it since I have no way of getting a tank big enough in my home, I was just curious as too what type of fish it was.

[BoomerD]

Just as an FYI, the Tessalata and Chainlink are 2 different species:

From Bob Fenner's WetWebMedia:
"Echidna catenata (Bloch 1795), the Atlantic "Chain-Link" Moray at about two foot maximum is likewise easy to maintain and peaceful. Feed once a week with cut-up crab, shrimp, krill, squid... may have to be trained or maintained on live crabs, shrimp."


Again, from WWM:
"Gymnothorax favagineus (Bloch & Schneider 1801), the Leopard or Tesselated Moray is one of the few members of the genus I can honestly endorse for home use. Most just get too big and mean (to at least 5.9 feet, possibly closer to ten in the wild). It is a handsome brownish black overall with a network of white to yellow reticulations. (Bloch & Schneider 1801), the leopard moray is the one of the few members of the genus I can honestly endorse for home use, the other members getting too big and mean. It is a handsome brownish black overall with a network of white to yellow reticulations. G. permistus is a junior synonym of G. favagineus. Shown: a three foot individual in captivity. "

[Maxx]

Ahhh, A victim of local labelling....... My apologies. Thanks for the clarification Boomer D.
Thats what happens when ya just post up w/o dbl checking yourself.

Nick
edited for spelling

[Cougra]

NO, Maxx, I don't believe it's your fault, it's more the fault of people wanting to use a "common" name and constantly miss labling things. There is a lot of confusion out there when it comes to naming fish and I find that LFS's are the worse culprits for that. If they would be more vigilant in finding and providing the proper names of the animals they are selling, then there would be a lot less general chaos!

Although I can't remember the latin names for most fish off the top of my head, I still insist on finding out what it is.

[Maxx]

Although I can't remember the latin names for most fish off the top of my head, I still insist on finding out what it is.

always a good idea for just this reason. The two eels are completely different critters, w/ different dietary requirements....
Nick