Six Page Species Descriptions

The American Eel (Anguilla rostrata), is the only fish in the Bay Region that migrates

downstream to the ocean to give birth to its young. These eels undergo multiple periods of

metamorphosis throughout their life cycle. They hatch in warm, ocean, saltwater, and take years

to return to their natural habitat of U.S. estuaries. The eels mature and develop here, before

returning to their birthing place to spawn, and then die. This knowledge is a very recent

development, as most of the information about the lives of Eels was unknown up until very

recently. The American eel, found in freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats from Greenland

to South America, has since migrated from portions of its historical freshwater habitat during the

last 100 years, mostly resulting from dams built through the 1960s. Eels lose habitat and

migration corridors when waters are obstructed by dams and other mechanisms. Localized

population declines are also attributed to mortality in hydropower plant turbines, degradation of

current habitat, and overharvest. Eels have played a major role in the human diet in Europe and

Asia, and in many European countries, European eel populations have decreased as much as 99

percent. Glass eels, which are an early stage in the development of these eels, typcically fetch a

high price on the Asian market, and this young life phase of American eels has also been

harvested in the United States.

1.http://www.fws.gov/northeast/newsroom/eels.html