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Monopterus albus  (common names:  swamp eel ,  rice eel ,  white ricefield eel ,  Asian swamp eel ) (Synonym:  Fluta alba  (Bloch and Schneider, 1801)) is an important air-breathing commercial species of  fish  in the  Synbranchidae  family. Originating in the waters of East and Southeast Asia, it has been identified as an invasive species in the North American  Everglades .

 

Taxonomy and Evolution

 

The Asian swamp eel is a freshwater eel-like fish belonging to the family Synbranchidae. This family is native to the fresh, brackish, tropical, and subtropical waters of Asia, but is now present in West Africa and North, Central and South America. Its taxonomy, however, is incorrect. Though  Monopterus albus  was initially thought to be a single species, four known populations of the “species” in the southeastern United States may actually be three distinct species or taxa, each originating from a different area in Asia. ^[3] Monopterus albus  comes from the class or subclass Actinopterygii. It arose from the Osteichthyes, the first bony fish, whose fossil record dates back to the Triassic period. In turn, the bony fish came from the Acanthodii class of bony and cartilaginous fish. The common name of  M. albus  is somewhat of a misnomer, as the Asian swamp eel is not an eel, per se. Eels are of the orderAnguilliformes, while  M. albus  is of the order Synbranchiformes.