Mastacembelus genus of many species of spiny eel fish from the family Mastacembelidae. They are native to freshwater habitats in Africa and Asia. Some species are relatively common in the aquarium trade such as the fire eel (M. erythrotaenia ) and zig-zag eel, (M. armatus ) (also called the tire track eel although M. favus is properly given the common name of tire track eel).
In an evaluation of the Mastacembelidae in 2005, the genera Caecomastacembelus and Aethiomastacembelus were placed in synonymy with Mastacembelus .
There are currently 64 recognized species in this genus:
Mastacembelus alboguttatus Boulenger , 1893Mastacembelus albomaculatus Poll , 1953Mastacembelus ansorgii Boulenger , 1905Mastacembelus apectoralis K. J. Brown, Britz, I. R. Bills, Rüber & J. J. Day, 2011 Mastacembelus armatus (Lacépède , 1800) (Zig zag eel)Mastacembelus aviceps T. R. Roberts & D. J. Stewart, 1976 Mastacembelus brachyrhinus Boulenger, 1899 Mastacembelus brichardi Poll , (1958)Mastacembelus catchpolei Fowler , 1936Mastacembelus congicus Boulenger, 1896 Mastacembelus crassus T. R. Roberts & D. J. Stewart, 1976 Mastacembelus cryptacanthus Günther, 1867 Mastacembelus cunningtoni Boulenger, 1906 Mastacembelus dayi Boulenger, 1912 Mastacembelus decorsei Pellegrin , 1919Mastacembelus dienbienensis V. H. Nguyễn & H. D. Nguyễn, 2005 Mastacembelus ellipsifer Boulenger, 1899 Mastacembelus erythrotaenia Bleeker , 1850Mastacembelus favus Hora , 1924Mastacembelus flavidus Matthes, 1962 Mastacembelus frenatus Boulenger, 1901 (Longtail spiny eel)Mastacembelus greshoffi Boulenger, 1901 Mastacembelus kakrimensis Vreven & Teugels, 2005 Mastacembelus latens T. R. Roberts & D. J. Stewart, 1976 Mastacembelus liberiensis Boulenger, 1898 Mastacembelus loennbergii Boulenger, 1898 Mastacembelus marchei Sauvage , 1879Mastacembelus mastacembelus (J. Banks & Solander , 1794) Mastacembelus micropectus Matthes, 1962 Mastacembelus moeruensis Boulenger, 1914 Mastacembelus moorii Boulenger, 1898 Mastacembelus niger Sauvage , 1879Mastacembelus nigromarginatus Boulenger, 1898 Mastacembelus notophthalmus T. R. Roberts, 1989 Mastacembelus oatesii Boulenger, 1893 Mastacembelus ophidium Günther, 1894 Mastacembelus pantherinus Britz, 2007 Mastacembelus paucispinis Boulenger, 1899 Mastacembelus plagiostomus Matthes, 1962 Mastacembelus platysoma Poll & Matthes, 1962 Mastacembelus polli Vreven, 2005 Mastacembelus praensis (Travers, 1992) Mastacembelus reygeli Vreven & Snoeks, 2009 Mastacembelus robertsi (Vreven & Teugels, 1996) Mastacembelus sanagali Thys van den Audenaerde, 1972 Mastacembelus seiteri Thys van den Audenaerde, 1972 Mastacembelus sexdecimspinus (T. R. Roberts & Travers, 1986) Mastacembelus shiloangoensis (Vreven, 2004) Mastacembelus shiranus Günther, 1896 (Malawi spiny eel)Mastacembelus signatus Boulenger, 1905 Mastacembelus simbi Vreven & Stiassny, 2009 Mastacembelus stappersii Boulenger, 1914 Mastacembelus strigiventus W. Zhou & L. P. Yang, 2011 Mastacembelus taiaensis (Travers, 1992) Mastacembelus tanganicae Günther, 1894 Mastacembelus thacbaensis V. H. Nguyễn & H. D. Nguyễn, 2005 Mastacembelus tinwini Britz, 2007 Mastacembelus traversi (Vreven & Teugels, 1997) Mastacembelus triolobus W. Zhou & L. P. Yang, 2011 Mastacembelus trispinosus Steindachner , 1911Mastacembelus undulatus (McClelland , 1844) Mastacembelus unicolor G. Cuvier, 1832 Mastacembelus vanderwaali P. H. Skelton, 1976 (Ocellated spiny eel)Mastacembelus zebratus Matthes, 1962 
