Genus · Eels

Rakthamichthys

Rakthamichthys is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Eels section, recorded from India. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
6.5 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2
Recorded from
India

About the genus

Rakthamichthys is a small genus of swamp eels (family Synbranchidae) known only from India, where the atlas's two species, Rakthamichthys anchi and R. indicus, are recorded. Swamp eels in this group share the family's signature body plan: a naked, scaleless, eel-like body with no paired fins, a dorsal-anal-caudal fin fold reduced to a low ridge or absent altogether, and a modified, richly vascularized branchial chamber that lets them gulp air and survive in stagnant, oxygen-poor water. Species placed in this genus are associated with groundwater and well habitats rather than open surface streams, and several relatives in the wider group show the pale coloration and reduced eyes typical of animals spending much of their lives away from daylight -- though how strongly that applies to any single species here is not something the atlas can state with certainty.

This is a genus of essentially scientific rather than aquarium interest -- swamp eels tied to wells and groundwater are not collected for the trade, and little has been published on their husbandry. R. indicus carries the common name Eapen's swamp eel; conservation-wise the two species split between a Data Deficient and a Not Evaluated assessment, a pattern typical of small, range-restricted, hard-to-survey groundwater fish rather than a specific finding of decline. At roughly 6.5 in, both are modestly sized for the family.

IUCN Red List: Data Deficient · 1 Not Evaluated · 1

The 2 species

Every Rakthamichthys recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Britz, Pinion, Marak, Velentina & Lokeshwor, 2026

NE

(Eapen, 1963)

Eapen's swamp eel, Malabar swamp eel

6.5 in TL · DD

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Rakthamichthys. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/rakthamichthys/

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