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Eel
*** Shopping-Tip: Eel
{{otheruses}}
{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = True eels
| image = anguillarostratakils.jpg
| image_width = 260px
| image_caption =
American eel, ''Anguilla rostrata''
| regnum =
Animalia
| phylum =
Chordate Chordata
| classis =
Actinopterygii
| ordo = '''Anguilliformes'''
| subdivision_ranks = Suborders
| subdivision =
Anguilloidei
Nemichthyoidei
Congroidei
Synaphobranchoidei
See text for families.
}}
'''True eels''' are
fish of the
order (biology) order '''Anguilliformes''' that consists of 4 suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and 400 species. Depending on their species, they can reach from 10 cm to 3 m, and weigh up to 65 kg. The number of rays of the gill webbing ranges from 6 to 51, though sometimes they are absent altogether. Their fins are always spineless. The back and anal fins are long, usually connecting with the tail fin. The belly and chest fins are absent. The shoulder girdle is separate from the skull. The scales are
Scale (zoology)#Ctenoid_and_cycloid_scales cycloid or absent.
The flat and transparent
larva of the eel is called a
leptocephalus. A young eel is called an '''elver'''.
Most eels prefer to dwell in shallow waters, hide at the bottom layer of the ocean, sometimes in holes. Only the
Anguillidae family comes to fresh water to dwell there (not to breed). Some eels dwell in deep water (in case of family
Synaphobranchidae, this comes to a depth of 4,000 m), or are active swimmers (the family Nemichthyidae - to the depth of 500 m).
Most eels are predators.
Freshwater eels (''unagi'') and marine eels (
Conger eel, ''anago'') are commonly used in
Japanese cuisine. Eels are used in
Cantonese cuisine Cantonese and
Shanghai cuisine too. The
European eel and other freshwater eels are eaten in Europe, the United States, and other places around the world. A traditional
London food is
jellied eels. The
Basque delicacy, ''angulas'', consists of
deep frying deep-fried elvers.[http://www.buber.net/Basque/Food/food1.html]
Trivia
Uniquely in
Europe, hand netting is the only legal way of catching eels in
England, and has been practiced for thousands of years on the
River Parrett and
River Severn.
Eel skins are used in some
wallets and
purses.
There is a myth that wallets made out of
Electric eels, which are not true eels, will demagnitize your
credit cards. This is not true.
In recent years, some
cryptozoology cryptozoologists have theorised that the
Loch Ness Monster might be a giant eel.
Classification
Image:Eel.JPG thumb|An eel from the genus [[moray eel|Gymnothorax]]
image:rostrata.jpg thumb|Juvenile [[American eels]]
Image:FH000014.jpg thumb|[[Garden eels]]
This classification follows
FishBase in dividing the eels into fifteen families. Additional families that are included in other classifications (notably
ITIS and
Systema Naturae 2000) are noted below the family with which they are synomized in the FishBase system.
'''Suborder'''
Anguilloidei
*
Anguillidae (freshwater eels)
*
Chlopsidae (
false morays)
*
Heterenchelyidae
*
Moringuidae (
worm eels)
*
Muraenidae (
moray eels)
*
Myrocongridae
'''Suborder'''
Nemichthyoidei
*
Nemichthyidae (
snipe eels)
*
Serrivomeridae (
sawtooth eels)
'''Suborder'''
Congroidei
*
Colocongridae
*
Congridae (
congers)
**Including Macrocephenchelyidae
*
Muraenesocidae (
conger pikes)
*
Nettastomatidae (
witch eels)
*
Derichthyidae (
longneck eels)
**Including Nessorhamphidae
*
Ophichthidae (
snake eels)
'''Suborder'''
Synaphobranchoidei
*
Synaphobranchidae (
cutthroat eels)
**Including Simenchelyidae, Nettodaridae, and Dysommidae
In some classifications the family
Cyematidae of
bobtail snipe eels is included in the Anguilliformes, but in the FishBase system that family is included in the order
Saccopharyngiformes.
See also
*
Eel life history
*
Eel ladder
*
American eel
*
Conger eel
*
European eel
*
Garden eel
*
Moray eel
*
Short-finned eel
*
Oily fish
References
* {{FishBase order|order = Anguilliformes|month = January|year = 2006}}
Category:Anguilliformes
chr:��Ꭶ
da:Ã…lefisk
de:Aalartige
et:Angerjalised
es:Anguila
eu:Aingira
fa:مارماهی
fr:Anguilliformes
io:Anguilo
he:צלופח
lt:Unguriažuvės
nl:Palingachtigen
ja:ウナギ
no:Ã…lefisker
pt:Anguilliformes
wa:Anweye
zh:é°»
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