Macrognathus aculeatus, Lesser spiny eel : fisheries, aquarium

Macrognathus aculeatus (Bloch, 1786)

Lesser spiny eel
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Image of Macrognathus aculeatus (Lesser spiny eel)
Macrognathus aculeatus
Picture by Roberts, T.R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Synbranchiformes (Spiny eels) > Mastacembelidae (Spiny eels)
Etymology: Macrognathus: Greek, makros = great + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bloch.

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

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 6.5 - 7.5; dH range: ? - 15; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 23°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672)

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

Asia: Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Borneo and Indonesia. Reported from Bangladesh (Ref. 1479) and Nepal (Ref. 9496); India (Ref. 43634); Viet Nam (Ref. 89724).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 38.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2073)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 14 - 20; Dorsal soft rays (total): 52 - 56; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 50 - 54. Body with series of obliquely oriented bars (Ref. 39392). Dorsal and anal fins with a row of isolated spines followed by a long continuous soft portion, both fins extending to but not confluent with caudal fin. Pelvic fins absent. Caudal fin rounded (Ref. 4792).
Body shape (shape guide): eel-like; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults occur in medium to large-sized rivers (Ref. 12975). Found in lowland wetlands and peats. Uncommonly seen in aquarium trades (Ref. 57235).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Produces a minimum of 1000 eggs (Ref. 1672).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Roberts, T.R., 1989. The freshwater fishes of Western Borneo (Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia). Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 14:210 p. (Ref. 2091)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

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

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

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

More information

Trophic ecology
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Diet composition
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Ecology
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References
References

Tools

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

Special reports

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

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |