Mastacembelidae, Swainson, 1839

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 816

Family Mastacembelidae

Spiny eels

Mastacembelids are a small, distinctive family of perch-like fishes with elongate bodies. They are widespread in tropical Asia and Africa. About 50 species and all genera are found in Asia, while a monophyletic radiation of 41 species is present in Africa. In the Nile drainage, spiny eels are absent except in Lake Victoria. The only species in West Asia is the sister group of all the African species, indicating that the invasion of these eels from Asia to Africa occurred through West Asia. The divergence between African Mastacembelus and M. simack is estimated to have occurred between 18 and 15 million years ago (95 % CI: 27.5–8.8 Mya). Mastacembelids

Mastacembelus simack ; Tigris drainage, Türkiye; 280 mm SL. Mastacembelus simack ; Lesser Zab drainage, Iraq; ~ 400 mm SL.

have a peculiar rostral appendix bearing a tubular nostril on either side of a central rostral tentacle. The spinous part of the dorsal fin of percomorph fishes is dissociated into individual short spines in spiny eels. These spines can be erected, and handling spiny eels might be dangerous. They twist very fast in a way that the spines cut into the skin of the aggressor, and the spines can produce severe wounds on hands and arms, especially if the eel is large. In West Asia, fishers treat spiny eels with caution. In some regions, spiny eels are a highly sought-after food source; in others, they are not consumed due to cultural beliefs. Further reading. Brown et al. 2010 (African spiny eels); Near et al. 2013 (phylogeny); Day et al. 2017 (phylogeny).

Open Access. © 2025 JÖrg Freyhof, Baran Yoğurtçuoğlu, Arash Jouladeh-Roudbar and Cüneyt Kaya, published by De Gruyter. the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111677811-045

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