Chordata · chordates

American eel

Anguilla rostrata

Anguillidae · freshwater eelsIUCN: Endangered
American eel
Photo: Clinton & Charles Robertson from RAF Lakenheath, UK & San Marcos, TX, USA & UK · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A catadromous eel that grows in rivers and returns to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.

Fun factIts clear juveniles, called glass eels, sell for thousands of dollars a kilogram.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Tropical Atlantic & Caribbean
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries
Diet
Fish, crustaceans & worms
Size
Up to 1.5 m

Classification

Chordata › Actinopterygii › Anguilliformes › Anguillidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Chordata chordates
    • At some stage of life: a stiffening rod along the back (notochord)
    • A hollow nerve cord along the back (dorsal)
    • Slits in the throat (pharyngeal slits) and a tail past the anus
  5. Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
    • A skull (cranium) protecting a brain
    • Backbone or similar support around the nerve cord
    • Includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
  6. Infraphylum Gnathostomata jawed vertebrates
    • Jawed vertebrates: jaws formed from gill arches
    • Paired fins or limbs
    • Includes all fishes except hagfish and lampreys, plus all tetrapods
  7. Superclass Osteichthyes bony vertebrates
    • Bony vertebrates: skeleton made largely of bone
    • Most have a lung or swim bladder
    • Includes ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes and all tetrapods
  8. Class Actinopterygii ray-finned fishes
    • Ray-finned fishes: fins are webs of skin held up by thin bony rays
    • Usually a gas-filled swim bladder for buoyancy
    • About half of all vertebrate species
  9. Infraclass Teleostei teleost fishes
    • Teleosts: symmetrical tail fin
    • Jaws that can push forward to grab prey (protrusible)
    • About 96% of all living fishes
  10. Cohort Elopomorpha eels, tarpons & bonefishes
    • Larvae are clear, flat, and ribbon-like (leptocephalus)
    • Includes eels, tarpons, and bonefishes
  11. Order Anguilliformes eels
    • Eels: long, snake-like body
    • No pelvic fins; dorsal and anal fins usually run into the tail
  12. Family Anguillidae freshwater eels
    • Freshwater eels that migrate to the ocean to spawn (catadromous)
  13. Genus Anguilla
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  14. Species Anguilla rostrata American eel

Closest relatives in the guide