Anguillidae

American eel (Anguilla rostrata)

Anguillidae, the freshwater eels, are a family of eels. They are in the suborder Anguilloidei. Anguilla anguilla is the type species. Most of them are extant. Aside from the living species, there are also prehistoric eels.

They spend their adult lives in freshwater, but migrate to the ocean to spawn. Eels are an important food fish. Some species are now farm-raised, but not bred in captivity. Many populations in the wild are now threatened. Seafood Watch recommends people avoid eating anguillid eels.

The first fossils of eels is found at the start of the Palaeocene, just after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 mya. If prehistoric eels like Urosphen were still alive, they would have replaced the extant eels.

Species

• Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) (European eel)
• †Anguilla annosa Stinton 1975
• Anguilla australis J. Richardson, 1841
  • Anguilla australis australis J. Richardson, 1841 (short-finned eel)
  • Anguilla australis schmidti Phillipps, 1925
• Anguilla bengalensis (J. E. Gray, 1831) (mottled eel)
  • Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis (J. E. Gray, 1831)(Indian mottled eel)
  • Anguilla bengalensis labiata (W. K. H. Peters, 1852)(African mottled eel)
• Anguilla bicolor McClelland, 1844
  • Anguilla bicolor bicolor McClelland, 1844 (Indonesian shortfin eel)
  • Anguilla bicolor pacifica E. J. Schmidt, 1928 (Indian shortfin eel)
• Anguilla borneensis Popta, 1924 (Borneo eel)
• Anguilla breviceps Y. T. Chu & Y. T. Jin, 1984
• †Anguilla brevicula Agassiz 1833-1845
• Anguilla celebesensis Kaup, 1856 (Celebes longfin eel)
• Anguilla dieffenbachii J. E. Gray, 1842 (New Zealand longfin eel)
• Anguilla interioris Whitley, 1938 (Highlands longfin eel)
• Anguilla japonica Temminck & Schlegel, 1847 (Japanese eel)
• Anguilla luzonensis S. Watanabe, Aoyama & Tsukamoto, 2009 (Philippine mottled eel)
• Anguilla malgumora Schlegel ex Kaup 1856 (Indonesian longfinned eel)
• Anguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 (giant mottled eel)
• Anguilla megastoma Kaup, 1856 (Polynesian longfin eel)
• Anguilla mossambica (W. K. H. Peters, 1852) (African longfin eel)
• †Anguilla multiradiata Agassiz 1833-1845
• Anguilla nebulosa McClelland, 1844 (mottled eel)
• Anguilla obscura Günther, 1872 (Pacific shortfinned eel)
• †Anguilla pachyura Agassiz 1833-1845
• †Anguilla pfeili Schwarzhans 2012
• †Anguilla rectangularis Stinton & Nolf 1970
• Anguilla reinhardtii Steindachner, 1867 (speckled longfin eel)
• Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur, 1817) (American eel)
• †Anguilla rouxi Nolf 1974