18" Black Ghost Knifefish tries pairing with a 25" Fire Eel (Photos)

[Josh's Fish]

Bit of a weird one haha, for a brief moment, my male Knifefish thought my (also male) Fire Eel was a larger female Knifefish and tried to pair with it.

I'm not all clued up with the exact pairing ritual of Black Ghost Knifefish, but I'd say it might of been something like this lol. Was a bit of a funny one. I'd imagine they'd try to find a pair through their weak electric signals and not through vision, as when they hit near this size, skin starts to grow over their eyeballs rendering them completely blind like my one. (You can just about see on this photo below)



The other eye however appears to of just shrivelled to nothing before the skin could grow over.


Either way, this all made for some great photos. After a few minutes, the Knifefish realised it wasn't a potential mate and swam back to his hiding spot. Poor guy, might have to find him a female now.







Here's a couple of videos of the Knifefish if you want to see it swimming about and feeding.

Hope you like pictures, feel free to share them where you want. I just ask you give credit, cheers

 

[ocellatus]

That's so strange and so awesome that you were able to capture it.

How did you sex them? I have a BGK and a TT eel and am trying to determine their sex. More for curiosity than any potential breeding attempts.

O

 

[Josh's Fish]

That's so strange and so awesome that you were able to capture it.

How did you sex them? I have a BGK and a TT eel and am trying to determine their sex. More for curiosity than any potential breeding attempts.

O

Black Ghost Knifefish
Male: Headshape becomes more pronounced and as it gets larger, into the shape of a slightly pointed bell. They rest swimming in one position.
Female: Stumpier head. When flaring or in season their undulating fin shimmers blue. They rest motionless on their side.

Fire Eel
Male: Slender with deeper red markings.
Female: Chunkier with lighter reds, more orange markings and stumpier face.
Regional variations also effect these Fire Eel characteristics, so sexing them is difficult without knowing the regional differences.

 

[ocellatus]

Black Ghost Knifefish
Male: Headshape becomes more pronounced and as it gets larger, into the shape of a slightly pointed bell. They rest swimming in one position.
Female: Stumpier head. When flaring or in season their undulating fin shimmers blue. They rest motionless on their side.

Fire Eel
Male: Slender with deeper red markings.
Female: Chunkier with lighter reds, more orange markings and stumpier face.
Regional variations also effect these Fire Eel characteristics, so sexing them is difficult without knowing the regional differences.

Interesting, thank you. My BGK is about 6" so it will be interesting to see what head shape changes occur over the next year or so.

O