Eel ID     2/28/18
A friend just got this eel and we're not sure what species it is. Was told it was a peppered moray. G. Pictus? But it looks a bit off. Thanks, Chris Nguyen
<Yes it does. Looks more like Gymnothorax eurostus to me. Just like this one:
http://www.fishbase.org/photos/PicturesSummary.php?StartRow=3&ID=6662&what=species&TotRec=12 .  Gymnothorax pictus is easily recognized by the cross in the eye. See here:
http://fishesofaustralia.net.au/images/image/GymothoraxPictusWW.jpg . 
Cheers, Marco.>

Various types of Morays that are usually caught in the rivers in Indonesia     12/20/17
Good evening Neale and all of you beautiful people at WetWebMedia.
Greetings from Jakarta!
<And a howdy to you too, Ben.>
(Neale, your hometown "Berkhamsted", from the name, which sounds archaic, I assume this is a very old historic town with a castle surrounded by moats.
Must be a wonderful tourist attraction!)
<Well, it's quite pretty I suppose. But it's home!>
I'd like to present some of the pictures from Mr. Septian, my friend in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who specializes in capturing and selling moray eels from the rivers in that province, to ornamental fish lovers. He had sold them all, but he still has many in stock.
As you can see, he routinely captured the usual suspects of G. Polyuranodons and G. Tiles, but he also had captured some not-so-usual morays in the past, such as Strophidon sathetes, G. Undulatus, and some others I cannot recognize. All were caught in the river, not far from the estuarium, just a few kilometers. Interesting eh? Make me even more interested to go there and sample the water!
<Oh, absolutely! One thing to remember though is vertical stratification is VERY common in estuaries. In other words, dense seawater moves along the bottom of the estuary, like a wedge. Less dense freshwater floats on top.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuarine_water_circulation
So you will find freshwater fish in the top few metres, but marine fish at the bottom, and for all practical purposes the two kinds of environment don't mix. Some fish can of course swim between salt and freshwater -- many
puffers for example -- while others stick very much to their preferred salinity. So even if a river estuary is several km inland, the bottom could easily be almost fully marine conditions, whereas the top few metres might be more or less completely freshwater. Strong currents (such as upwelling) can cause mixing, but if the river is slow and ambling gently towards the sea, there might be very little mixing. This means that if you dip your hydrometer into the water next to the riverbank, you might detect a very low salinity; but if you put a baited trap on the bottom to catch fish living there, you might be catching fish from the salty, near-marine environment at the bottom.>
As for my own eels, I will try to feed my eels again tonight with frozen shrimps and squids. Mr. Emerson (the largest) loves frozen shrimps now, but the other two are still not interested. If they reject the squids, I will
make myself fried calamari for dessert ;)
<Yum!>
Thank you and have a nice day!
Best regards,
Ben
<And to you, best wishes, Neale.>

Re: fw: Various types of Morays that are usually caught in the rivers in Indonesia   12/21/17
Marco; thought you'd find this message/post interesting. BobF
<Thanks. Indeed is!>
Cheers mate. B
Various types of Morays that are usually caught in the rivers in Indonesia /Marco   12/21/17
Good evening Neale and all of you beautiful people at WetWebMedia.
Greetings from Jakarta!
<Hi Ben.>
(Neale, your hometown "Berkhamsted", from the name, which sounds archaic, I assume this is a very old historic town with a castle surrounded by moats.
Must be a wonderful tourist attraction!)
I'd like to present some of the pictures from Mr. Septian, my friend in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who specializes in capturing and selling moray eels from the rivers in that province, to ornamental fish lovers. He had sold them all, but he still has many in stock.
As you can see, he routinely captured the usual suspects of G. Polyuranodons and G. tiles, but he also had captured some not-so-usual morays in the past, such as Strophidon sathetes, G. undulatus, and some others I cannot recognize. All were caught in the river, not far from the estuarium, just a few kilometers. Interesting eh? Make me even more
interested to go there and sample the water!
<Indeed. Especially the S. sathete looks amazing! Most common in estuaries and can grow well beyond 3 m. I can also see Gymnothorax richardsonii (known as the dish "Bakasi" around the city of Cordova on Cebu) and Gymnothorax fimbriatus in the pictures you sent. All of the above have been reported from brackish waters, even G. fimbriatus. Can't see G. undulatus in the pictures, but it's reported from brackish waters, too, so it's well possible.>
As for my own eels, I will try to feed my eels again tonight with frozen shrimps and squids. Mr. Emerson (the largest) loves frozen shrimps now, but the other two are still not interested. If they reject the squids, I will make myself fried calamari for dessert.
<Kept G. polyuranodon in the past for many years. Various fish species were the favourite food, but shrimps, clams and calamari were also eaten when hungry.>
Thank you and have a nice day!
<You too.>
Best regards, Ben
<Cheers, Marco.>