🐟 AquaticCare difficulty: AdvancedLegal complexity: High — restricted in many states
European eel
Anguilla anguilla
The European eel is a critically endangered, catadromous fish with an extraordinary life cycle that spans the Atlantic. Recruitment of young eels has crashed dramatically, driven by overfishing, dams, parasites, and changing ocean conditions.
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Quick facts
| Size | Elongated fish to ~1 m (females larger), snake-like body. |
| Lifespan | 15–85 years |
| Native region | Europe and North Africa; spawns in the Sargasso Sea |
| Climate | 🍂 Temperate |
| Water type | 🌫️ Brackish |
| Genus | Anguilla |
Habitat & enclosure
Spends its growth years in European rivers, lakes, and estuaries before migrating thousands of kilometers to spawn in the Sargasso Sea, after which the larvae drift back on ocean currents. Dams and barriers block river migration, and the glass-eel stage is heavily fished. It is CITES-listed; this profile is conservation/education focused on river connectivity and fisheries management.
Diet
An opportunistic carnivore eating invertebrates and small fish during its long freshwater phase. Its complex, basin-to-ocean life cycle makes it dependent on healthy rivers and seas alike.
Behavior & temperament
It transforms through several distinct life stages — leptocephalus larva, transparent glass eel, pigmented elver, yellow eel, and finally silver eel ready for the great spawning migration. The collapse in young-eel recruitment is one of the starkest declines among European fishes.
Reviewed and signed off by: KinStation Editorial — conservation profile (pending DVM/biologist review)