Aethiomastacembelus ellipsifer
BOULENGER, 1899

	Photo © Michael Persson
Aethiomastacembelus ellipsifer

Trade names and synonyms
Mastacembelus ellipsifer, Afromastacembelus ellipsifer, Tanganyika eel.

Size and appearance
The maximum length is 45 cm (18 in.). The ground colour is brownish-beige with ring shaped dark brown pattern.

Food
Shrimp mix is a good and well-liked feed in aquariums. The natural food consists of different types of small fishes. Especially Goby cichlids are appreciated because these are easy to catch.

Aquarium
Should not be smaller than 400 litres (88 gal.). Because they dig themselves down in the bottom substrate to hide, the substrate should consist of sand with fine grain size and without sharp edges.

Habitat
Occurs in the most types of habitats, however it is most common in the intermediate zone.

Breeding
There is no known breeding in aquariums.

General
Aethiomastacembelus ellipsifer is a nice and pleasant complement to the Tanganyika cichlid tank. They could be rather aggressive to equals and will therefore need plenty of space.

Distribution
Endemic to Lake Tanganyika.