My Baby Eel

[northboy]

Here is a couple of Photos of my very special baby eel, you wont see another one like this guy, its a Freshwater Moray Gymnothorax polyuranodon, despite what they say on OS forums where they don't occur, funny that, They are 95% at least Fresh water. For now we think that only the lava and under 5cm juvenile stages are in salt or brackish water. They have a 2mm egg, that means they will be breedable in captivity.

There is only one other in Australia that was as small as this guy at 7cm and it is preserved in a collection, this guy is 17 cm long now and just starting to get its spotted markings, I can not waite to see if it will be Red or Orange when its bigger.

I think he is beautiful

Bob

[torface]

That is sooo cool! :encouragement: I want one!!

[OzShrimp]

pretty cool bob his better then crabs :) where did you get him?

[northboy]

I caught him in a place that was SSOO not expected, suburban Cairns, Trinity beach. Previous to that the closest to Cairns we have Caught or seen one is Port Douglas aria!!. There is nothing better than snorkeling in the middle of the day in a Rainforest creek and seeing these guys down in the under rock zones, as in, in between and under the boulders about 30cm+ down. They are a spectacular animal and we are learning more each year.

The Big challenge will come when it time to try breeding them. If you do a search on them, don't believe most of what you read, its put up by so called experts that have never seen one in the wild and don't even live where they are. There is one Australian paper out on them so far and another not to far away.

The other small one 7cm was caught in the Mulgrave river not to far from where I live, most of the records are of animals 60cm and above and the biggest number of those records come from me.

Bob

[northboy]

An adult

Bob

[northboy]

Another Adult

Bob

[northboy]

OH another factoid is the Scientist working on them, is putting face recognition tech to work on them, as they all have different face markings and are all different shades of Red, Orange and Black.

Bob

[OzShrimp]

they are so cool i would have one in a display tank :)

[ineke]

Very nice. What amazing animals we have here!

[fishmosy]

Nice Bob, I wonder if breeding is anything like the 'common' long and short fin eels. Apparently all the adults leave and travel to somewhere in the Pacific Ocean (last I heard they still don't know where) before spawning, and the tiny clear larvae eventually find their way back to freshwater (1000s of kilometres from where they are spawned).

[northboy]

Hi Ben

At the moment the argument is leaning towards, the adults spawning in the lower fresh water and the lava going in to the GBR lagoon or estuary's and returning at the 7cm sort of mark?? I have one seen and one capture at 7cm low in the fresh/estuary and the one in a collection is 7cm and from the lower fresh zone.

There is some DNA comparisons to be done between local population regions and then with the Pacific island populations, exciting times ahead cant wait as that will answer my breeding questions. How ever the Scientist is off doing heaps of other projects at the moment, must get him back on track LOL.

Bob

[OzShrimp]

thinks these will ever be readily available for the general person? Would love one in a 6ft tank

[northboy]

That is the long term plan, at the moment I am not allowed to sell them and rightly so

Bob

[OzShrimp]

Thats understandable :) pretty impressive. Are there any other fresh water eels which are available

[northboy]

We have Long fin, short fin, Pacific, Swamp Eels and a pink underground Eel as well as a couple of new ones not published yet. 1 Morays that are fresh water and 1 Brackish one, its endless.

The Swamp Eel will be the best in tanks as they are not to big.

Bob

[OzShrimp]

have you had any experience keeping them? I find eels to be a very interesting creature and love the salt water ones very much :) never really seen fresh water ones in aquariums before