Monopterus albus, Asian swamp eel : fisheries, aquaculture, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793)

Asian swamp eel
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Monopterus albus (Asian swamp eel)
Monopterus albus
Picture by Vidthayanon, C.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Synbranchiformes (Spiny eels) > Synbranchidae (Swamp-eels)
Etymology: Monopterus: Greek, monos = one, unique + Greek, pteron = fin (Ref. 45335).

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

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 3 - ? m (Ref. 2686). Tropical; 25°C - 28°C (Ref. 2060); 34°N - 6°S

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

Asia: India to China, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Probably occurring in Bangladesh.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2686); common length : 40.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44894)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Anguilliform body; no scales; no pectoral and pelvic fins; dorsal, caudal and anal fins confluent and reduced to a skin fold; gill openings merged into single slit underneath the head (Ref. 27732). Rice paddy eels are red to brown with a sprinkling of dark flecks across their backs; large mouths and small eyes (Ref. 44091).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Found in hill streams to lowland wetlands (Ref. 57235) often occurring in ephemeral waters (Ref. 44894). Adults are found in medium to large rivers, flooded fields and stagnant waters including sluggish flowing canals (Ref. 12975, 12693), in streamlets and estuaries (Ref. 41236). Benthic (Ref. 58302), burrowing in moist earth in dry season surviving for long periods without water (Ref 2686). Occasionally dug out in old taro fields, in Hawaii, long after the field has been drained; more frequently observed in stream clearing operations using heavy equipment to remove large amounts of silt and vegetation where the eels are hidden (Ref. 44091). Nocturnal predators devouring fishes, worms, crustaceans, and other small aquatic animals (Ref. 44091); also feed on detritus. Are protandrous hermaphrodites. The male guards and builds nest or burrow (Ref. 205). Marketed fresh and can be kept alive for long periods of time as long as the skin is kept moist (Ref. 12693). Good flesh (Ref. 2686). Important fisheries throughout Southeast Asia (Ref. 57235).

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

Male builds a large free-floating bubblenest among the submerged vegetation close to the shoreline; eggs are spat into the nest after being laid; male guards the nest and continues to guard the young after hatching till they are on their own (Ref. 44091). Spawning occurs in shallow water (Ref. 2060). Sex reversal is completed in 8-30 weeks (Ref. 34260).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Fávorito, Sandra | Collaborators

Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran, 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 2. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, i-xxii + 543-1158, 1 pl. (Ref. 4833)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 November 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00059 (0.00036 - 0.00095), b=3.06 (2.91 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.9   ±0.28 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 10.2 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Fec = 1,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (65 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 260 [73, 603] mg/100g; Iron = 1.07 [0.42, 2.82] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [17.0, 19.8] %; Omega3 = 0.0997 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 30.9 [14.1, 74.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 13.2 [4.2, 37.6] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.44 [0.74, 2.67] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.