''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family

Mastacembelidae The Mastacembelidae are a family of fishes, known as the spiny eels. The Mastacembelids are part of the Order Synbranchiformes, the swamp eels, which are part of the Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). In an evaluation of the family in 2004, the ...

of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Synbranchiformes Synbranchiformes, often called swamp eels, is an order of ray-finned fishes that are eel-like but have spiny rays, indicating that they belong to the superorder Acanthopterygii. Taxonomy No synbrachiform fossil is known. The Mastacembeloidei were ...

. These fish are distributed throughout most of

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae as well as oligochaetes.

Appearance and anatomy

Most ''Macrognathus'' species attain in length, but a few surpass this size, with the largest being ''M. aral'' at up to . ''Macrognathus'' are mostly similar to '' Mastacembelus''. However, they differ in a more modified rostrum, which may be slightly to significantly larger and longer than those found in ''Mastacembelus''. This serves not only to find food but also to help gather food.

In the aquarium

A number of species of this genus are popular

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

fish. These include the lesser spiny eel, ''Macrognathus aculeatus'', the spotfinned spiny eel, ''Macrognathus siamensis'', as well as others.

Species

According to

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, there are currently 25 recognized species in this genus. According to Catalog of Fishes, one of these, ''M. malabaricus'', belongs in the genus '' Mastacembelus'' instead of ''Macrognathus'' and another, ''M. taeniagaster'', is considered a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''M. circumcinctus''. * ''

Macrognathus aculeatus The lesser spiny eel, ''Macrognathus aculeatus'', is a Southeast Asian tropical freshwater fish belonging to the family Mastacembelidae. They are uncommonly found in aquaria. Physical characteristics The eel has an upper-body that is yellow, ...

'' (

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, 1786) (Lesser spiny eel) * '' Macrognathus albus'' * ''

Macrognathus aral ''Macrognathus aral'', the one-stripe spiny eel, is a small fish from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even i ...

'' (

& J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Onestripe spiny eel) * '' Macrognathus aureus'' Britz, 2010 * '' Macrognathus caudiocellatus'' (

Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer * Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo * George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...

, 1893) * '' Macrognathus circumcinctus'' (

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, 1924) * '' Macrognathus dorsiocellatus'' Britz, 2010 * ''

Macrognathus fasciatus ''Macrognathus fasciatus'' is a species of spiny eel found in the Manimala River Manimala River or Manimalayar is a 92km long river which flows through South and Central Kerala. The river used to be wrongly considered as a tributary of Pamba R ...

'' Plamoottil & Abraham, 2014Plamoottil, M. & Abraham, N.P. (2014): ''Macrognathus fasciatus'' (Synbranchiformes; Mastacembelidae) - a new fish species from Kerala, India. ''Journal of Experimental Zoology, India, 17 (1): 49-54.'' * ''

Macrognathus guentheri ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

'' ( F. Day, 1865) (Malabar spiny eel) * ''

Macrognathus keithi ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

'' ( Herre, 1940) * '' Macrognathus lineatomaculatus'' Britz, 2010 * '' Macrognathus maculatus'' (

G. Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1832) (Frecklefin eel) * '' Macrognathus malabaricus'' ( Jerdon, 1849) * '' Macrognathus meklongensis'' T. R. Roberts, 1986 * '' Macrognathus morehensis'' Arunkumar & Tombi Singh, 2000 * ''

Macrognathus obscurus ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

'' Britz, 2010 * ''

Macrognathus pancalus ''Macrognathus pancalus'', the barred spiny eel or Indian spiny eel, or পাঁকাল in bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic ...

'' F. Hamilton, 1822 (Barred spiny eel) * '' Macrognathus pavo'' Britz, 2010 * ''

Macrognathus pentophthalmos ''Macrognathus pentophthalmos'', the Sri Lanka five-eyed spiny eel, is a small species of spiny eel that is endemic to freshwater habitats in Sri Lanka. Described as a common species as recently as 1980, for unknown reasons its population rapid ...

'' ( Gronow, 1854) (

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

?) * ''

Macrognathus semiocellatus Macrognathus semiocellatus is a species of ray-finned fish endemic to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; it found in marshlands and vegetated water bodies in Mekong Chao Phraya River and Mae Klong. It spends its time during the day buried in silt, sand ...

'' T. R. Roberts, 1986 * ''

Macrognathus siamensis The Peacock Eel or Spotfin Spiny Eel (''Macrognathus siamensis)'' is a spiny eel found in freshwater habitats throughout Southeast Asia. They are commercially important as food and aquarium fish. Distribution The peacock eel is native to the ...

'' ( Günther, 1861) (Peacock eel) * ''

Macrognathus siangensis ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

'' Arunkumar, 2016 * ''

Macrognathus taeniagaster ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

'' ( Fowler, 1935) * ''

Macrognathus tapirus ''Macrognathus'' is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes. These fish are distributed throughout most of South and Southeast Asia. ''Macrognathus'' species feed on small aquatic insect larvae ...

Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

& Widjanarti, 2005 * ''

Macrognathus zebrinus ''Macrognathus zebrinus'', the zebra spiny eel, is a species of spiny eel endemic to Myanmar, specifically known from the Irrawaddy River, Sittaung River and Salween River and may also occur in Indonesia. It was originally described as ''Mast ...

'' (

Blyth Blyth may refer to: People * Blyth (surname) * Blythe (given name) Places Australia * Blyth, South Australia, a small town Canada * Blyth, Ontario, a village United Kingdom * Blyth, Northumberland, a town ** Blyth Valley (UK Parliament ...

, 1858) (Zebra spiny eel)

References

Mastacembelidae Fish of Southeast Asia {{Synbranchiformes-stub