This eel has remained fairly popular as an aquarium fish for years, owing to its unique appearance and behaviors.

[7][2] As a food source, zig-zag eels are consumed locally along the rivers they inhabit and are prepared in various ways including, smoked, barbecued, fried, curried, pickled, and dried.

In traditional medicinal practices in Punjab, the oral ingestion of the meat and topical application of the skin and oil of the fish is used as a treatment for muscle soreness.

The brown tones of the zig-zag eel's coloration grant an advantage in concealing itself from both predators and prey in the turbid water environments that it inhabits.

Mastacembelus armatus exhibit interspecific variation in the number of olfactory lamellae, structures that aid the fish in scent recognition.

Zig-zag eels sampled from their natural habitat average about four annuli maximum on their scales suggesting a longevity of four years in the wild.

[11] Despite its eel-like appearance, Mastacembelus armatus is not considered a true eel as it belongs to the order synbranchiformes rather than anguiliformes.

[9] Mastacembelus armatus are nocturnal fish that thrive in highland streams, lowland wetlands, still waters, coastal marshes and rivers with sandy or rocky riverbeds and heavy vegetation.

[7][2] Being nocturnal carnivores, zig-zag eels forage on benthic insect larvae, earthworms, blackworms and some submerged plant material.

Crustaceans and Annelids formed a smaller portion of the diet with the presence of shrimps and crabs indicating bottom feeding behavior.

[citation needed] Their diet changes depending on seasonal availability of food sources and they consume more small fishes in the summer and freshwater prawns in winter months.

The relatively low fecundity of zig-zag eels leaves them vulnerable to exploitation through overfishing and population decline from pollutants.

Heavy metal and metalloid pollutants in the rivers Mastacembelus armatus inhabits results in depletion of tissue glutathione content, increase in liver peroxidation, and decreased antioxidant enzyme activity.

[15] These three conditions are direct impacts of oxidative stress caused by chemical pollutants and raise concern for bioaccumulation of toxins.