Re: Ultimate Live rock Stowaway... Marco chimes in re Eel ID! -- 09/01/07 Hi Crew, I have e-mailed you a few times regarding a 72 gallon saltwater tank I am setting up. I put water in it, and on Monday I put 100 lbs of live sand and 75 lbs of live rock in it. Today (Thursday) my husband and I found some sort of eel living in one of the rock's caves! I was expecting maybe a snail or 2, some cool algae, maybe a coral if I was lucky!! I searched all of your marine eel pictures and I can't figure out exactly what he is, the only one that looked close was the Zebra Moray. He is brown with wide white bands (hopefully you can see the enclosed picture!). I just want to be sure of what he is so I know if I have to try to get him out and return him to LFS or if he can be comfortable in my 72. He was out of the water for close to 2 hours with the drive home and me getting the sand in, then the rock, I have no idea how he did it! I will offer defrosted meaty foods, hopefully he will eat. He is curious about us when we come to the tank! Thanks so much for your help! Barbara <Just a second (or third) opinion: Looks like a Echidna polyzona to me (bands and yellowish nostrils in combination with the blunt head), but there are several other banded eels and morays eels (e.g. Gymnothorax enigmaticus and many more). If E. polyzona is the species, care and character are similar to E. nebulosa (snowflake), it just stays a little smaller. In my opinion you could keep it in that tank (bigger tank would be better of course...), but it would eat smaller fishes and crustaceans while growing. They can survive quite long outside of the water and some of its relatives are known to leave the water in nature to hunt for crabs between rocks outside of tidal pools. Send a better picture and we'll get you a better ID. What a give-away, I usually have to pay for eels... am just coming back from such a shopping trip. Cheers, Marco.>

Re: Ultimate Live Rock Stowaway.. Eel Be Comin' Out the LR When he Comes, When He Comes... Mitch? Miller? And a one and a two... -- 09/01/07 Hi Mitch, <Hi Barbara, Mich with you again.> Thanks so much for your help. <Welcome!> Can the Banded Snake Eel be brown w/ white stripes? <That was my understanding, but rechecking fishbase they are describing as black and white though I though it looked brown in some of the images and looked brown in another book I referenced which had an up-close image. I could very well be wrong. I am far from an eel expert. You've gotten three different opinions. I suspect Marco's vote may be the most likely winner. Do use the scientific names to do a Google image search. You will likely be able to tell which of these three are closest to what your little stowaway looks like. That's what color this one is (I know it was hard to tell in the picture!). <Yes, and not just in your picture either!> I offered defrosted squid last night and he voraciously accepted it! <That is wonderful! I'm very glad to hear.> That seems to be a good sign. <Indeed it tis!> He is more than welcome in the tank but if 180 gallons is suggested it is cruel to keep him in my 72. He has only come out of the rock 1/2 way, any suggestions on removing him from the tank? <I think it is more important to determine who this stowaway is before you consider removal, as Marco's vote would be suitable for your tank.> I will continue to offer meaty foods every other day or so. <I wish you much success! Mich> Barbara Re: Ultimate Live rock Stowaway  9/3/07 Hi Marco, <Hello Barbara.> I appreciate all the expert opinions I can get! <No problem, but I'm more a fan than an expert. Reading your e-mail reminded me to a case we had in a near life fish store, so I had to add Echidna polyzona as a possible banded candidate.> I apologize for the blurry picture, he is voraciously accepting defrosted squid and clam so far. <That's good news. Be careful not to overfeed, if it's a moray. Many appear to be hungry most of the time.> My husband and I will try to get a better quality picture while I am feeding him and send it along as soon as I can. <Looking forward to it. See if you can get a good shot of the head, since most banded morays can be differentiated by characters of the head. A snake eel will also be easily identified that way.> I'm getting attached to him now, so I'd love to keep him, but only as long as he can be comfortable and happy with us! <As soon as we know what it is, I'm confident we'll know how to care for it.> Barbara
<Good luck with the camera. Marco.>

Looks like Echidna nebulosa to RMF