Here in Langstone Harbour, and in our local streams, we are fortunate to have this remarkable, long, snake-like ray-finned fish.
European eels are regarded as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Wildlife and Wetlands Trust estimates 95% of eel species have disappeared in the last 40 years.
Did You Know?
Adult eels can grow 60 to 80cm long and weigh 1 to 2 kg. They have an average lifespan of 20 years but some can live as long as 50 years.
Eels have an extraordinary life cycle which starts in the Sargasso Sea (near the Bermuda triangle). Adults spawn eggs that turn into larvae and then into glass eels. They then migrate 6,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe on the tides.
After 5 to 20 years living in brackish and fresh water, growing to about 1m long, the European Eel makes it’s remarkable long journey back across the Atlantic to spawn and die.
Did You Know?
An eel’s life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has still not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be different species!
- Read about the European eel recovery project – click here
- Video of the amazing life cycle of the eel – click here