Many people who know that Lake Malawi has a lot of cichlids are surprised to learn that it is also home to a true, ocean-going eel, the "thick-lipped eel," Anguilla bengalensis labiata. (Until at least the 1960's, this eel subspecies was thought to belong to a different species, and was called Anguilla nebulosa labiata.) This true eel, reaching a weight of at least 20.4 kg (45 pounds) according to Jubb (1967), should not be confused with Lake Malawi's spiny eel, which is only very distantly related and much smaller. The color painting above and the black and white illustrations below, all by Hilda M. Jubb, are from Jubb (1967) and are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mr. A. T. Balkema of A. A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam.
