Like most pseudochromis they are very hardy and well suited to captivity. If you are looking for an oddball, the Green Wolf is highly recommended. While the Eels are quite peaceful with larger fish and are very unlikely to bother corals in any way, don't trust them with anything small enough to fit in their mouth and plan on frequently restocking your clean up crew. As an aside, Wolf Eels are apt hunters and can remove hermit crabs and snails from their shells shrimp (yes, even cleaner shrimp) are a preferred food source, and small fish that can be caught, will be. A feeding stick can be a useful too to get them started on prepared foods. They will very quickly overcome their shyness when the realize you are a food source. Krill, mussels, small siversides are great when the animal is small, while larger meals are obviously more relevant as they grow. We suggest feeding them a mix of these foods, appropriate to their size.
They generally take thawed marine meaty foods very well, though their initial shyness and nocturnal nature can be challenging in getting them started. It does best on infrequent, very large meals, which would mimic its wild meal distribution. While these fish have been bred in captivity by hobbyists in Germany, there is no commercial availability of aquacultured specimens at this point, and little information available on the success of rearing the fry.Ĭongrogadus subducens is the largest pseudochromis available, and has an appetite to match. Many of the commonly seen true eels available to the home hobbyist can get 2 or 3 times this size. While the Green Wolf Eel does attain a fairly large size, it is still contextually a very small “eel.” With a maximum adult size of just under 18 inches, this fish is one that could be kept long term in an aquarium as small as 125 gallons or so. They are omnivorous (eat almost anything) ambush hunters, eating any fish small enough to be swallowed and many motile (moving) invertebrates. Generally they are green, or brown or some combination of the two, they can change coloration fairly abruptly to blend into their environment better. This species is eurohaline, and thus is also not uncommon in brackish environments as well. They are usually associated with rocky outcrops and coral rubble where there are ample places to hide, they are also frequently found in the crevices of coral reefs. In the wild, these fish are found in the shallow coastal waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific, generally in less than 30 feet of water. Interestingly, this fish is neither an eel nor a Blenny, but a Pseudochromis, and a very interesting one at that. It has quite a few common names including Carpet Conger, Daggerfish, Eared Eel, Launce, Lurking Machete (my favorite), Mud Blenny, Green Eel Perch, Ocellated Eel Blenny and the most popular two: Carpet Eel Blenny and Green Wolf Eel.
Congrogadus subducens is possibly the most often misidentified / misnamed fish in the hobby.