[2] The scientific name for eel-tailed catfish comes from a name for the fish in an unidentified Aboriginal Australian language - Tandan - which Major Thomas Livingston Mitchell recorded on his 1832 expedition.

The eel-tail catfish has 4 pairs of barbels surrounding the mouth, and sharp serrated dorsal- and pectoral-fin spines which are venomous and can cause a very painful wound.

[4] The eel-tailed catfish is found in most freshwater habitats of the Murray-Darling river system except for the upland, sub-alpine and alpine headwaters of southern tributaries.

It is also present in speciated but undescribed forms in several east coast systems in northern New South Wales due to natural river capture events.

[citation needed] Juvenile eel-tailed catfish feed on zooplankton, and small insects, particularly chironomid larvae.

[5] Freshwater Catfish were once widespread in eastern Australia, however, populations have suffered severe declines in both distribution and abundance since the 1980s.

These include habitat degradation and barriers to movement, and increased predation by and competition with introduced species such as carp (which has similar feeding habits) and Redfin.