Speckled longfin eel
Speckled longfin eel | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Family: | Anguillidae |
Genus: | Anguilla |
Species: | A. reinhardtii
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Binomial name | |
Anguilla reinhardtii Steindachner, 1867
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The speckled longfin eel, Australian long-finned eel or marbled eel (Anguilla reinhardtii) is one of 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It has a long snake-like cylindrical body with its dorsal, tail and anal fins joined to form one long fin. It usually has a brownish green or olive green back and sides with small darker spots or blotches all over its body. Its underside is paler.[1] It has a small gill opening on each side of its wide head, with thick lips. It is Australia's largest freshwater eel, and the female usually grows much larger than the male.[1][2] It is also known as the spotted eel.
Description[]
Long-finned eels can grow to 1.6 metres and 22 kg (although generally to 1 metre) for females while males are much smaller at 650 mm and 600 g.[3] Landlocked eels have been reported to grow to 3 metres (10 feet).[2]
Distribution[]
The long-finned eel is a native of New Guinea, eastern Australia (including Tasmania), Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia.[1] It can be found in many freshwater areas, including creeks, streams, rivers, swamps, dams, lagoons, and lakes although generally more often in rivers than lakes.[2]
Breeding and migration[]
Like other Anguilla species, the eel lives predominantly in freshwater rivers and streams, but is born in deep waters of the ocean. Each species has its own spawning grounds; spawn use ocean currents to return to their adult species range. The long-finned eel spawns in the Western arm of the Southern Equatorial Current,[4] which carries spawn to the eastern coast of Australia. This species is panmictic, spawning throughout the year.[5]
References[]
- ^ a b c Allen, G.R.; Midgley, S.H.; Allen, M. (2002). Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth, Western Australia: Western Australian Museum. p. 64. ISBN 0-7307-5486-3.
- ^ a b c Merrick, J.R.; Schmida, G.E. (1984). Australian Freshwater Fishes, Biology and Management. Sydney: Author. pp. 61–63. ISBN 0-9591908-0-5.
- ^ Robert McDowall, ed. (1996). Freshwater Fishes of South-Eastern Australia (Rev Ed). Sydney: Reed Books. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-86622-936-1.
- ^ Aoyama, Jun (2009). "Life History and Evolution of Migration in Catodromous Eels (Genus Anguilla)" (PDF). Aqua-BioScience Monographs. 2: 23. doi:10.5047/absm.2009.00201.0001. S2CID 53319110. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-01-26.
- ^ Shen, Kang-Ning; Tzeng, Wann-Nian (2007). "Population Genetic Structure of the Year-Round Spawning Tropical Eel, Anguilla reinhardtii, in Australia". Zoological Studies. 46: 451. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.654.2742.
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Anguilla reinhardtii" in FishBase. February 2006 version.
- Critters of Calamvale Creek
- Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania Long-finned eel fact sheet
- AUSECO
- Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society
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Wikispecies has information related to Speckled longfin eel. |
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Anguillidae
- Freshwater fish of New Zealand
- Freshwater fish of Australia
- Taxa named by Franz Steindachner
- Fish described in 1867