European Eel
Anguilla anguilla
About
The European eel has five life stages and its appearance changes for each.
They lay their eggs in the Sargasso Sea, just to the east of the Bahamas. These hatch into flat, transparent, leaf-shaped larvae which drift in the ocean for up to three years before crossing the Atlantic on the Gulf Stream.
By the time they reach the shores of Europe and North Africa they grow into finger-length, see-through miniature “glass eels”.
As they enter freshwater and migrate upstream, they darken in colour and are now known as elvers.
As they mature in their freshwater habitat, their bellies become yellow and they become known as yellow eels. This is when they develop sexual organs and they can remain in this stage for more than 20 years. They will spend their days buried in mud or under stones, only emerging at night to hunt. Adult eels feed on fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and molluscs. They can also leave the water to feed on slugs and worms.
Once they have become sexually mature and are ready to reproduce, the eels change colour again and are known as silver eels. They stop feeding and migrate up to 6,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.
Conservation status
The European Eel is one of the most threatened eels in the world. The number arriving in Europe has fallen by around 95% in the last 40 years. The fragmented state of many wetlands, along with dams and barriers block many species’ migration. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change and the spread of invasive parasites have compounded these pressures. They also face enormous pressure from overfishing, as it is a traditional dish in many European countries and has become a delicacy in East Asia. Restaurants continue to serve it despite its threatened status.
Listed as 'Critically Endangered' on the IUCN Red List.
The tighter it is held the sooner it slips away:
Incantation for the European Eel
Eating an eel heart grants prophesy eel pie jellied eel stuffed Eel rivers marshland fens oceans willow trap eel rent stick bind crest salted smoked dried autumn migration season Lent Lenten Ely Ēlġē District of eels eel throwing eel day libido black death eele eel people eels out of a bag horsehair eel oil eel skin eel trap eel knot eel thunder Anguilla anguilla brooks lakes the sea no one has ever seen Anguilla anguilla mating, anywhere braised in beer fried in butter boiled jellied in stock fried with eggs elver cake King Lear’s pie ponds beetles sea-foam dew lake shores river banks metamorphosis gossamer lava open sea glass eel elver dissolving stomach. Take an eel and flay him silver eel yellow-brown eel unsolvable eel eel question dams Sargasso sea sea within a sea locks drainage land enclosure 1880-1930 Raw eels may kill your hangover coil of dried eel skin eel skin to ward off cramp garter of eel skin serpent of the sea It is so slippery that the tighter it is held the sooner it slips away boiled in wine poisonous humours eel paradox River Severn A black ascending line in constant motion great migration stewed fertiliser elvering season flood barriers elverers unethical elverers trawling for elvers elver poaching eel fisheries farmed eels wild eels feague sniggle sniggling pot apodal eelfare eelspear eelpout eelpot eelery spitchcock zoutch courge eel-weel eel putcheon eel schuit eel set eel bobbing eel setter clod clodding fausen ocean currents persistent bioaccumulative toxic compounds Island of Eels The kelpie is half horse, half eel pesticides dimethyl carcinogenic chemicals eel stocks organic contaminants eel fisheries chemical contaminants maternally transferred spawning grounds erratic swimming convulsions. organophosphorus pesticides loss of balance brackish freshwater water reeds chalk stream eel bob a dozen eels for supper eel barb rod hive basket trident red list
Length: 228 seconds
Poem: Wendy Pratt
Read by: Wendy Pratt
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