Jewel of the nile

Today I took a picture of our eel. When you approach the aquarium he usually comes to the front looking for food. He can be hand fed, but we have never had the guts to try it because he always attacks his food!

He is highly predatory, so we can't keep any small fish in the tank. Trust me, he has already eaten a few! But although he is predatory, the eel is otherwise peaceful and relatively nonactive (laying around most of the time).

The eel originally comes from the Nile River and has both gills and lungs. This species is so old that it was already around in prehistoric times. Researchers have found that this species is a predecessor to land animals.

He is now 45cm (18 inch) long and about 4 years old.