ID an eel!

hairijuana · #1 02/12/2002, 12:52 AM

hello all you people. i have an moray eel i cannot ID to save my life. no pic yet, but i can describe him.
he's tiny, just over 5 inches maybe and hasn't grown in a while. he's usually a lustery yellowish purple, with a head kind of like a viper eel... slim head like that. around his snout there are white spots, and a whitish ring around his eyes. he's adorable, and nano - reef safe! but i cannot ID him, and thus cannot buy another for my other tanks. he eats flakes like a champ and is quite shy. if anyone can ID him i would be quite grateful. thanks all! - harry

FMarini · #2 02/12/2002, 12:43 PM

Dood:
whats up w/ the name?
As far as the eels goes w/out a photo I will only be guessing. The key is the white-ring around the eye. The coloration is of less importance as local color morphs have slight variations in tint and overall color. My first guess would be a juvie chesnut viper
Do you have a photo?, or even better do you have Scott Michaels book "reef fish vol1"?

Last point, do you see pointy fangs in the eels mouth? i wonder why you state is nanoreef safe. Unless its G. melatremus, all bets are off. I'm confused on why you would feed a meat eating fish flake food, are you also supplementing his food w/ shrimp chunks, fish slices, crab meat, and other marine goodies?

i can recommend you do a search here for "reefsafe eels" or "eels for reef tank" and see if it matchs any of the photos posted.
frank

rededteck · #3 02/12/2002, 01:08 PM

Sounds like a ribbon eel. I thought they were hard to keep?

hairijuana · #4 02/12/2002, 03:46 PM

you name it he eats it. flakes, shrimp clam and fish chunks... eel formula, VHP, anything. just not anything alive. he hasn't grown muchat all in months though. and doesn't pick on my hermits, shrimp, fish, or anything. hence : nano reef safe. i'll check that viper eel, i know it isn't a ribbon. thanks for the advice. peace -harry
oh yeah, the name is an old joke.

hairijuana · #5 02/12/2002, 03:50 PM

anyone know what the latin name for the chestnut viper moray is?
he came in on some rock too, frank... so maybe he's something new? i just can't find anything with the lustery color that he has. he's sweet and if i find out what it is i am going to try to aquire more. anyways thanks again - harry

hairijuana · #6 02/12/2002, 03:56 PM

it is a chestnut... but is nowhere near the size it says, so it must be a slow growing juvie... he'll go in the big eel tank when he gets bigger i guess. anyone know where i can get more? i don't have much experience with any online vendors with good eel selections... frank do you know how much the chestnuts usually run? thanks again, i'm happy i finally IDed him! - harry