Monopterus albus 
System : Freshwater
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Synbranchiformes
Synbranchidae
- General
- Distribution
- Impact
- Management
- Bibliography
- Contact
Common name
white ricefield eel (English), swamp eel (English), rice eel (English)
Synonym
Fluta alba , (Bloch and Schneider, 1801)
Similar species
Summary
Although its impacts are unknown, Monopterus albus' predaceous and generalised feeding habit poses a potential threat to native fish, frogs and aquatic invertebrates. In Florida and Georgia, introduction is likely due to an aquarium release or a fish farm escape or release. It is believed that Monopterus albus was originally brought to Hawaii by Asian immigrants as a food fish.
Species Description
Aguirre and Poss (1999) state that the body of M. albus is more or less cylindrical; the tail is compressed, tapering to a slender point much shorter than the trunk. Scales are absent. The snout is bluntly rounded, and the jaws and palate have rows of viliform teeth. The upper lip is thick overlapping part of the lower lip. The eye is small, covered by a layer of skin. Body colour is slate brown above and white to light-brown below with small, dark spots on its sides and occasionally on the ventral surface. M. albus may grow to a metre in length, but most grow to between 25cm and 40cm.
Uses
According to Bricking (2002), in Asia,M. albus are considered a food fish, and a delicacy. They are also found in markets as food in the United States, as well as in pet supply stores, although they are not as well known.
Habitat Description
Bricking (2002) states that M. albus lives in muddy ponds, swamps, canals, and rice fields, where it burrows in moist earth in the dry season, surviving for long periods without water.
Reproduction
According to Aguirre and Poss (1999), M. albus eggs are laid into a bubble nest in shallow water. The nest is typically not attached to vegetation but floats freely at the surface. One or both parents guard the eggs and young.
Nutrition
Bricking (2002) states that M. albus are nocturnal generalized predators (carnivores) that devour fishes, worms, crustaceans, and other small aquatic animals.
Pathway
M. albus was originally brought to Hawaii by Asian immigrants as a food fish, and purposely released into the wild (Bricking, 2002).
Principal source: Asian Swamp Eel (Bricking, 2002)
Compiler: National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
Review: Anon
Publication date: 2005-06-26
Recommended citation: Global Invasive Species Database (2024) Species profile: Monopterus albus. Downloaded from http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/speciesname/Monopterus+albus on 19-04-2024.
General Impacts
According to Bricking (2002), the impacts of M. albus are uncertain, however, they are likely to affect the population size of their prey, as well as the availability of food sources for larger fish, turtles, frogs and wading birds. M. albus consumes crayfish, tadpoles, small fish, and worms. They can eat some larger prey as well, by grabbing them with their mouths, and spinning until they are torn in half. M. albus may also play a role in altering the habitat beneath ponds and marshy regions where they burrow nests to wait out dry seasons. Declines in native centrarchids from some areas of the United States have been attributed to this species (Nico, 1999).
