Mastacembelus
| Mastacembelus | |
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| Mastacembelus moorii | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Synbranchiformes |
| Family: | Mastacembelidae |
| Genus: |
Mastacembelus Scopoli, 1777 |
| Type species | |
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Ophidium mastacembelus J. Banks & Solander, 1794 |
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| Species | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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See text
Mastacembelus is a genus of many species of spiny eel fish from the family Mastacembelidae. They are native to Africa (c. 45 species) and Asia (c. 15 species). Most are found in rivers and associated systems, but there are also species in other freshwater habitats and a particularly rich radiation is found in the Lake Tanganyika basin with 15 species (14 endemic).
Some species are relatively common in the aquarium trade such as the fire eel (M. erythrotaenia) and zig-zag eel, (M. armatus) (also called the tire track eel although M. favus is properly given the common name of tire track eel).
In an evaluation of the Mastacembelidae in 2005, the genera Caecomastacembelus and Aethiomastacembelus (formerly used for the African species) were placed in synonymy with Mastacembelus.
There are currently 61 recognized species in this genus:
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Wikipedia