Mastacembelus ophidium

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	SYNBRANCHIFORMES	MASTACEMBELIDAE

Scientific Name:	Mastacembelus ophidium
Species Authority:	Günther, 1893
Taxonomic Notes:	Vreven (accepted) placed the African genera Caecomastacembelus and Aethiomastacembelus in synonymy with Mastacembelus.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Assessed:	2006
Assessor/s	Bigirimana, C. & Vreven, E.
Evaluator/s:	Snoeks, J. (Freshwater Fish Red List Authority) & Darwall, W. (Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Programme)
Justification: Endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it is widespread with no known major widespread threats.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.
Countries:	Native: Burundi; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Tanzania, United Republic of; Zambia

Population [top]

Population:	Reported as rare by Poll (1953). Otherwise there is little information on population status although vast numbers of fry have been noted periodically near the shore at the north of the lake indicating mass spawning.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Inhabits sandy shores Abe (1997). Mastacembelus ophidium is one of the spiny eels in the lake with a very peculiar shape. It looks very much like a snake. It reaches a maximum size of 60 cm. Its slender pale grey or pale beige body with faint markings provides excellent camouflage. This is the only spiny eel in the lake for which concentrations of thousands of young fry a few cm long have been observed in quiet bays during some months of the year. It appears that the spiny eels might migrate and have synchronous spawns, but as yet this observation applies only to Mastacembelus ophidium and not to the other species. It is well known that sand-dwelling fluviatile species of spiny eels bury themselves in the sand to lay in ambush waiting for prey to pass by, or to do so as a protection against predators. The sand-dwelling species in the lake have not been reported to have the same behaviour, but it seems likely that they also bury themselves in the sand.
Systems:	Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

Inhabits sandy shores Abe (1997). Mastacembelus ophidium is one of the spiny eels in the lake with a very peculiar shape. It looks very much like a snake. It reaches a maximum size of 60 cm. Its slender pale grey or pale beige body with faint markings provides excellent camouflage. This is the only spiny eel in the lake for which concentrations of thousands of young fry a few cm long have been observed in quiet bays during some months of the year. It appears that the spiny eels might migrate and have synchronous spawns, but as yet this observation applies only to Mastacembelus ophidium and not to the other species. It is well known that sand-dwelling fluviatile species of spiny eels bury themselves in the sand to lay in ambush waiting for prey to pass by, or to do so as a protection against predators. The sand-dwelling species in the lake have not been reported to have the same behaviour, but it seems likely that they also bury themselves in the sand.

Systems:

Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Water pollution, habitat deterioration, and over-exploitation.

Major Threat(s):

Water pollution, habitat deterioration, and over-exploitation.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	None known.

Conservation Actions:

None known.

Citation:	Bigirimana, C. & Vreven, E. 2006. Mastacembelus ophidium. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2010.
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