Eel - Encyclopedia of Fish. Eel fish: river and sea species, their features What does conger eel look like

One of the most interesting fish in the underwater fauna is the eel. The main feature of the appearance is the body of the eel - it is elongated. One of eel-like fish is a sea snake, so they are often confused.

Due to its serpentine appearance, it is often not eaten, although in many places it is caught for sale. His body is devoid of scales and covered with mucus which is produced by special glands. The dorsal and anal fins are joined in place and form a tail, with which the eel buries itself in the sand.

This one lives in many parts of the world, such a wide geography is due to a large variety of species. Heat-loving species live in the Mediterranean Sea, off the western coast of Africa, in the Bay of Biscay, in the Atlantic Sea, rarely swim in the North Sea to the western coast of Norway.

Other species are common in rivers that flow into the sea, this is due to the fact that only the sea eel reproduces. These seas include: Black, Barents, North, Baltic. Electric eel fish which lives only in South America, its greatest concentration is observed in the lower reaches of the Amazon River.

The nature and lifestyle of the eel fish

Due to poor eyesight, the eel prefers to hunt from an ambush, and the comfortable depth of its habitat is about 500 m.It goes hunting at night, thanks to its well-developed sense of smell, it quickly finds food for itself, it can be other small fish, various amphibians, eggs of other fish various worms.

Do eel fish photo not easy, since he practically does not bite the bait, and it is impossible to hold him in his hands because of his slimy body. The eel, writhing in snake movements, can move overland back into the water.

Eyewitnesses said that river eel fish amazing, he is able to move from one reservoir to another, if there is a small distance between them. It is also known that river dwellers begin their lives at sea and end there.

During spawning, it rushes into the sea with which the river borders, where it sinks to a depth of 3 km and spawns, after which it dies. Eel fry, having matured, return to the rivers.

Types of acne

Of the whole variety of species, three main ones can be distinguished: river, sea and electric eel. River eel lives in the basins of rivers and seas adjacent to them, it is also called European.

It reaches 1 meter in length and weighs about 6 kg. The body of the eel is flattened from the sides and elongated, the back is painted in a greenish tint, and the abdomen, like most river fish, is light yellow. River eel white fish against the background of their sea brothers. This species of fish eels has scales that are located on its body and is covered with a layer of mucus.

Conger eel fish much larger in size than its river counterpart, it can reach 3 meters in length, and its weight reaches 100kg. The elongated body of the conger eel is completely devoid of scales, the head is slightly larger in width, has thick lips.

The color of his body is dark brown, there are also gray shades, the abdomen is lighter, reflects a golden glow in the light. The tail is slightly lighter than the body, and there is a dark line along the edge of it, which gives it a certain outline.

It would seem what else an eel can surprise besides its appearance, but it turns out that there is even more to surprise, because one of the varieties is called electric eel. It is also called lightning eel.

This one is capable of producing electric current, its body is serpentine, and its head is flat. The electric eel grows up to 2.5 m in length and weighs 40 kg.

The electricity emitted by the fish is formed in special organs, which consist of small “columns”, and the more their number, the stronger the charge that the eel is capable of emitting.

He uses his ability for various purposes, primarily to protect against large opponents. Also, through the transmission of weak impulses, fish are able to communicate, if in case of strong danger the eel emits 600 impulses, then it uses up to 20 for communication.

Organs that generate electricity occupy more than half of the entire body; they generate a powerful charge capable of stunning a person. So you should know for sure where is the eel fish with whom I would not like to meet. When obtaining food, an electric eel with a strong charge stuns small fish that swam nearby, then calmly proceeds to a meal.

Eel fish food

Predators prefer to hunt at night and the eel is no exception, it can eat small fish ,. When it is time for other fish to spawn, the eel can also feast on their caviar.

It often hunts in ambush, digs a burrow in the sand with its tail and hides there, only the head remains on the surface. Has a lightning-fast reaction, the victim floating nearby has no chance of escape.

Due to its peculiarity, the hunting of an electric eel is noticeably facilitated, it sits in ambush and waits for enough small fish to gather near it, then emits a powerful electric discharge stunning everyone at once - no one had a chance to escape.

Stunned prey slowly sinks to the bottom. Acne is not dangerous for humans, but it can cause severe pain, and if it happens in open water, there is a risk of drowning.

Reproduction and life expectancy

Regardless of the habitat of the fish - in the river or the sea, they always breed in the sea. Their age of puberty is from 5 to 10 years. The river eel returns to the sea during spawning, where it lays up to 500 thousand eggs and dies. Eggs 1 mm in diameter float freely in water.

The favorable temperature at which spawning begins is 17 ° C. The conger eel lays up to 8 million eggs in the water. Before puberty, these individuals do not show external sexual characteristics, and all representatives are similar to each other.

Little is known about the reproduction of electric eels; this species of marine fauna is poorly understood. It is known that when going to spawn, the eel goes deep to the bottom and returns with already matured offspring that can already emit charges.

There is another theory, according to which the eel weaves a nest of saliva, which can hold up to 17 thousand eggs. And those fry that were born are the first to eat the rest. Electric eel what kind of fish- you will be asked, you can answer that even scientists do not know this.

Eel meat is very useful for food, its composition is diverse in amino acids and microelements. Therefore, lately, lovers of Japanese cuisine have paid attention to it.

But eel fish price not small, this does not in any way reduce the demand, although its capture is prohibited in many countries, therefore it is grown in captivity. In Japan, they have been doing this for a long time and consider it a profitable business, since the cost of feeding eels is not large, and the cost of its meat is much higher than the cost.

Moray eel or ocean eel lives in warm sea water. On an enlarged photo of the California moray eel, its spotted color is clearly visible.

For centuries, people could not solve the riddle of an amazing fish called eel, which disappeared without a trace after a long stay in rivers, ponds and streams. In the 19th century, researchers managed to find out that eels spawn somewhere in the salty water of the ocean, but the spawning grounds and migration routes of snake-like fish were studied only at the beginning of the last century.

Acne is common all over the world. Of particular interest to zoologists are the European and American eel, which migrate simultaneously through freshwater and salt water, while most fish species can survive in only one of these environments.

The life cycle of eels has only been studied in the last century. Despite the construction of dams on major European rivers and widespread environmental pollution from industrial and urban waste, these unusual fish continue to travel from the rivers of Western Europe to Bermuda across the vast expanses of the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1921, after 16 years of scientific research, the Danish ichthyologist I. Schmidt established that all European eels begin their life in the Sargasso Sea. These fish spawn between Bermuda and the Bahamas, after which they die, and the larvae that emerged from the eggs, using the ocean currents, drift back to Europe.

Incredible journey

The leafy transparent larva (leptocephalus) does not look like an adult at all. The tiny larvae resemble the leaves of a weeping willow more than the long, snake-like eel fish, as a result of which they have long been considered different species.

After 2.5-3 years, with warm currents, in which there is plenty of plankton, the grown larvae reach the coast of Europe. When leptocephals grow up to 6-8 cm, they undergo metamorphosis: the larvae acquire a cylindrical shape and some color. These so-called. glass, or young, eels already look like adults and can swim upstream. Young females climb up the rivers of Great Britain and continental Europe. Interestingly, mugs often settle in polluted bodies of water, unsuitable for the life of most other fish.

Males usually stay at river estuaries and along the coast for feeding.

European eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea and die after spawning. However, before going down the rivers, these fish often have to wriggle short distances along the ground.

Upon reaching puberty at the age of 7-14 years, they turn silvery. Males rarely exceed 50 cm, while females can be twice as long.

Females live in rivers for about 12-15 years. They are often called yellow eels, although they are actually brown or greenish in color. At about the age of five, eels develop scales that are completely different from the scales of other fish.

Eels are voracious predators that prey on fish, frogs, insects, and other invertebrates; they do not disdain carrion either. These fish quickly swim in different layers of water, and during winter they lie buried in the silt at the bottom of the river.

By land and by sea

The sign of sexual maturity in males is a silvery-gray coloration, and in females it is large, about 1 meter long. To continue the genus, females descend downstream of rivers and go across the Atlantic Ocean to spawn in the Sargasso Sea.

The scale of migration of female eels is comparable only to the migration of salmon. On the way to the sea, fish face many dangers, one of which is the nets exposed by man. Due to its high weight and special fleshiness, eels are a favorite delicacy of gourmets.

Eels have a remarkable ability to move short distances on land, wriggling and gliding like snakes. In the water they breathe with gills; skin breathing can be used if necessary.

When traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, fish cover a distance of thousands of kilometers. During this time, eels most likely stop hunting, and their eyes enlarge to adapt to darkness in the depths of the ocean. Until now, scientists are racking their brains over the riddle of the unusual behavior of eels. What, in fact, makes them stubbornly go to their traditional spawning grounds, where inevitable death awaits them?

Different kinds

The reason why European eels leave the Sargasso Sea and swim to the shores of Europe is still not known, while American eels migrate in the opposite direction. According to one hypothesis, this is one and the same species carried away by different currents, and the different number of bones in the spine (American eels have fewer of them) can be explained by the unequal water temperature of these currents.

Freshwater eels belong to the order of bony fish.

The giant conger eel has no scales and is usually found in the depths of the sea along the rocky coastline. Unlike freshwater species, conger eels have a bony tail.

They have a long, slender body, dorsal and anal fins, and a pair of pectorals. The most famous species of ocean eels - conger eel and moray eel - are characterized by long dorsal and anal fins, usually fused together with a reduced tail.

Moray eels have no pectoral fins. This species has a characteristic mottled color (most often white spots on a dark brown background) and lives in warm waters.

The conger eel has no scales; it reproduces in the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and the Gi-Braltar Strait, as well as in the Sargasso Sea. Sea eels are found predominantly along rocky coasts, where they hide in crevices, caves and inside shipwrecks.

Other species

Eels are often referred to as fish similar in structure, for example, electric eels or lampreys, found in the rivers and seas of Europe. Lampreys, in particular the sea lamprey, are descendants of fish that lived on the planet about 400 million years ago. They differ from other species by an oral suction cup and several rows of corneous teeth.

The electric eel is one of approximately 500 species of fish capable of generating electrical discharges, which are used for protection, navigation and hunting. The electric eel is structurally unlike its European cousin. It lives in the rivers of South America and can reach 3 meters in length. Most of the torso is the tail, along which the electrical organs are located. The discharge they produce (about 600 V) can kill a small animal or stun a large animal.

The numerous family of conger eels is represented by more than 180 species that are found exclusively in sea and ocean waters. Slightly salty and fresh waters are unsuitable for their habitation. The differences between representatives of all species are very small and mostly relate to the habitat of eels.

Conger (conger eel) is much larger and heavier than river eel. Females can be up to 2.40 m long, less often up to 3 m, and weigh over 100 kg, males reach a maximum length of 1.30 m, their average size is much smaller. The body diameter is more than 20 cm. The head and mouth are also much larger.

The body is long, serpentine, devoid of scales. The head is somewhat flattened. A large mouth with thick lips is located at the end of the snout. Both jaws have two rows of teeth. The outer rows of large, close-set teeth, which are shaped like incisors, form cutting edges. In the inner rows, the teeth are small, conical, and pointed. There are large, tapered teeth on the palate and vomer. The long dorsal fin with 275-300 soft rays begins behind the pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins merge with the caudal fin. The pectoral fins are pointed. The lateral line runs along the entire body. Vertebrae 153-164.

The body color is dark gray or brown, the belly is light brown or golden. Dorsal and anal fins are light brown with a black border. The pores of the lateral line are white.

Habitat

The distribution area of ​​sea eels is quite wide and includes the warm waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as the seas adjacent to them. Some species of conger eels tolerate colder waters better and can be found in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic. In the North, Baltic and Black Seas, conger eel rarely swims. These fish are inhabitants of both the coastal zone and the open sea, without sinking deeper than 500 m.

This predatory fish appeared more than 100 million years ago in the vastness of the ocean near Indonesia. Eel was originally an exclusively saltwater fish. But over time, the eel began to spread throughout the world and began to inhabit rivers and lakes. By their specificity, rivers are considered intermediate habitats. River eels, like sea eels, are mainly found in rivers that flow into the following seas:

• White.
• Barents.
• Baltic.
• Azov.
• Mediterranean.
• Black.

In addition to these seas, eels are found in many lakes and ponds. The largest number of individuals lives on the territory of the Baltic Sea.

Lifestyle

Acne is nocturnal and prefer to sleep in a secluded place during the day. By their nature, they are voracious predators with powerful teeth. The diet is based on small fish, crustaceans and molluscs. They will not miss the catch entangled in fishing nets. Lacking good eyesight, eels prefer to lie in wait for prey in ambush, because thanks to their excellent sense of smell, they sense it from afar. There are types of eels that disguise themselves as bottom vegetation. Pulling a vertical burrow into the ground with the help of a strong tail and leaning out of it halfway, conger eels wait for prey. In case of danger, they instantly hide in the hole completely.

After reaching sexual maturity (5 to 15 years), conger eels are ready to breed. In size, females are much larger than males. For spawning, these fish go on a long journey that ends in the summer in the eastern Atlantic or in the Mediterranean Sea. A prerequisite is a depth of at least 3000 m. Eel spawning is the first and only one in their life. After the female marks 3 to 8 million tiny eggs, the parents die. The larvae (leptocephalus) hatched from the eggs are carried by currents over great distances.

Economic value

Valuable commercial fish. World catches in 1996-2012 ranged from 13.2 to 19.5 thousand tons. Fishing is carried out with bottom trawls and longlines.

It is sold fresh and frozen. The meat is tasty, suitable for smoking. Used for the preparation of canned food. Like many eels, the blood of a conger contains poisonous substances that are destroyed when heated, under the action of acids and alkalis. The poisonous properties appear only when the blood serum of these fish is injected. Due to this feature, the conger is considered a passively poisonous fish.

Record catches

The IGFA-registered sea eel record is 60 kg 440 g, and was set by Vic Evans, skipper from Brixham, UK, in June 1995.

Over the past decades, professional fishermen have occasionally caught large congers. The largest, weighing almost 160 kg, was caught off the Vestmannaeyjar Islands (near Iceland). With a maximum weight of about 150 kg, conger eels reach a length of 3 m. Their powerful jaws are dotted with small teeth that can cause serious wounds.

Places and times of fishing

Sea eels are hooked near their hiding places. They prefer areas with a sandy bottom and large rocks. These are promising places for fishing, because the fish, after being hooked, cannot hide in the crevices of the rocks. Konger hunts mainly at night in shallow waters, “combing” the harbor waters along breakwaters and rocky shores. Since June, these predators are regularly caught off the coast of England. But the best time to catch them is mid-September. With the first autumn storms, the fishing season ends.

It is interesting! In Great Britain, a distinction is made between record-breaking fish caught from the shore and from the boat. The maximum weight of conger eels caught from the shore is from 30 to 35 kg. But most often fish from 3 to 15 kg are caught from the shore.

Where do the biggest eels live?

The largest specimens of Conger are found annually over sunken ships in the English Channel. Fish up to 35 kg are harvested from reefs in the western part of the English Channel. Reef conger eels are not always smaller than their counterparts caught over shipwrecks. However, underwater reefs, due to their long length, cannot be fished as effectively as the area of ​​a wreck, where fish are concentrated.

Some wrecks in less accessible areas of the sea have become a haven for numerous small Congers weighing from 7.5 to 20 kg. On some days, catching 20 or 30 eels per angler is considered common. There are not many eels inhabited by wrecks, where intensive fishing takes place, but they are larger. If hunters for trophy eels begin to fish near sunken ships that have been fished many times, then they will be able to be content with only one or two fish per angler. But on the other hand, these will be copies of more than 25 kg.

It is interesting! Record Conger Vic Evans, like all the largest conger eels of the last 30 years, was caught from a sunken ship that lies no more than 10 miles from the coast.

Features in cooking

Fish is especially popular in Japan. In this country, they believe that the meat of these creatures perfectly tones up and improves performance. The beneficial fish oil of eel prevents heart disease. The pulp contains many proteins, fatty polyunsaturated and saturated acids, which help to rejuvenate cells and get rid of nervous diseases.

The conger eel is highly valued in dietary nutrition. Fish, the beneficial properties of meat of which it is difficult to overestimate, is very nutritious. It contains potassium and iodine. And, as you know, these minerals help to strengthen the heart muscle and protect our thyroid gland. The conger eel has a low calorie content, which is very important for dietary nutrition.

It contains a wide range of valuable vitamins (A, B, E, D) and protein. Regular use of this delicacy in any variation strengthens the immune system, has a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole. Shown are dishes from it for gout, rheumatism, malaise, depression, central nervous system disease, atherosclerosis. Having looked at the Japanese, who periodically eat fish and are distinguished by good health and high efficiency, you can be convinced of the healing properties of the meat of this predator.

Eel is a whole family of fish, which includes several genera and dozens of species of their representatives. Each species is used by humans for food, but for the fisherman, the river eel is of great interest, the photo of which you can study below. Currently, a huge part of these fish are on the verge of extinction.

Varieties and appearance

There are several types of eels. But the most common:

• Electric eel. This fish is also known as lightning eel. This is due to its ability to generate electrical energy. You can see this type of eel in the first photo. The maximum length that a fish can reach is 3 meters, while the mass can reach up to 40 kilograms;
• The conger eel, the photo of which is located under the photo of the electric eel. This fish can reach 3 meters in length, and its weight can be about 100 kilograms;
• River eel. This fish is also known as European eel. Her photo is located third in a row. In length, it reaches a maximum of 1 meter, and in weight - 6 kilograms. But a case of catching a trophy individual weighing more than 12 kilograms was recorded.

In an electric eel, the body is not covered with scales, it is elongated, narrowed from the sides and back, and rounded in front. The adults are olive brown and the underside of the head is bright orange. The fish has emerald green eyes and a pale edge on the anal fin. Lightning eel is interesting for organs that generate electricity and occupy up to 66% of the length of the whole body. With their help, an electric discharge is generated with a strength of up to 1 Ampere and a voltage of up to 1300 V.

The conger eel has a long and serpentine body that is not at all covered with scales. Its head is somewhat flattened, at the end of the fish there is a mouth, which is distinguished by thick lips. The body color can be brown or dark gray, and the belly is usually colored golden or light brown. The anal and dorsal fin are light brown, but they have a black border, which is very clearly seen in the photo. The fish have white pores on the lateral line.

The European eel has an elongated body, slightly compressed from the sides. The body is covered with very small, almost invisible scales. The back of the fish is colored brown with a greenish tint, and the belly has a yellow tint. The entire body is covered with mucus, under which elongated scales hide.

Distribution and habitats

The European representative of eels lives in rivers and river basins belonging to the seas: North, Baltic, Mediterranean, White, Barents, Azov and Black. The river eel has successfully adapted to the conditions of the European climate. The fish prefers to keep in places of the reservoir, where the bottom is covered with clay or mud. She swims among the reeds, reeds. The fish's unique ability is to crawl like a snake on wet grass from one reservoir to another.

The electric eel has a very limited range. It is found only in South America. Electric eel is found in the northeastern part of this continent. It concentrates in the lower reaches of the Amazon.

The conger eel is distributed in the Atlantic Ocean, from the western part of the African continent to the Bay of Biscay, located in the Mediterranean. Rarely found in other ocean areas. Sometimes the fish swims into the North Sea to the southern part of Norway. It is also rare in the Black Sea. The conger eel can live both in the open sea and off the coast, the fish does not go deeper than 500 meters.

Diet

The river eel, being a predator, goes to feed at night. During the spawning of other fish species, he feeds on their caviar, and his favorite caviar is carp. But the serpentine predator also feeds on small fish (lampreys, sculpins), newts and frogs. Sometimes larvae, snails, crustaceans and worms become food.

Electric eel is unique. He eats prey stunned by a discharge of electricity. Moreover, electricity is not generated constantly: the number of discharges is always limited. It is not dangerous for a person, but an electric shock causes him severe pain.

Reproduction

Eel reaches sexual maturity late in relation to other fish: at 5–12 years. Regardless of where this representative of the ichthyofauna lives, in the river or the sea, it spawns only in the sea. This explains the fact that river forms live only in the basins of the seas: when they reach sexual maturity, the fish descends downstream and remains in the sea for procreation.

When the water warms up to + 16 ... + 17 degrees Celsius, the spawning period begins. Fecundity of females is higher in marine eels (about 7–8 million eggs), river forms are fertile up to 500,000 eggs. The eggs are about 1 millimeter in diameter. Sea eel dies immediately after spawning. The eggs hatch into larvae, which at first float on the surface of the water.

Acne does not show sexual characteristics until it reaches puberty. Usually, sex differences become apparent in fish by 9–12 years of age. In this case, the eel from the back is darker, and the sides and belly acquire a silvery color. Scientists have not yet established why the eel makes such long migrations to sea waters for reproduction.

Thus, eel is a commercial fish with high taste. But the eel is generally a unique fish, the uniqueness of which is associated with the peculiarities of its appearance, the way of stunning prey, and also the place that is usually chosen as a spawning ground.

Eel is not an ordinary fish. Outwardly similar to a snake, it has a cylindrical shape, only the tail is slightly compressed from the sides. The head is small, slightly flattened, the mouth is small (when compared with other predators), with small sharp teeth. The body of the eel is covered with a layer of mucus, under which small, delicate, oblong scales are found. The back is colored brown or black, the sides are much lighter, yellow, and the belly is yellowish or white.

Eel comes in both freshwater and saltwater. Appearing on Earth more than 100 million years ago, first in the region of Indonesia, the eel began to inhabit the area of ​​the Japanese archipelago - especially in Lake Hamanaka (Shizuoka Prefecture). This creature is very tenacious, able to live even without water with a small amount of moisture. Currently, there are 18 species of eel in the world.

The river eel is an anadromous fish, but unlike sturgeon and salmon, which go to breed from seas to rivers, the eel goes to spawn from fresh water bodies into the ocean. Only in the 20th century was it possible to discover that the eel is multiplying in the deep and warm Sargasso Sea, which, being the gulf of the Atlantic, washes the shores of the North and the islands of Central America. The eel spawns only once in its life, and after spawning, all adult fish die. A powerful current carries the larvae of the eel to the shores of Europe, which takes about three years. At the end of the path, these are already small glassy transparent eels.

In spring, juveniles enter our reservoirs from the Baltic Sea and settle along river systems and lakes, where they usually live from six to ten years.

The eel feeds only in warm weather, mainly at night, during the day they burrow into the ground, exposing only their head outside. With the onset of frost, they stop feeding until spring. Eels love to feast on various small animals living in mud: crustaceans, worms, larvae, snails. It readily eats eggs of other fish. After four to five years in fresh water, the eel becomes a nocturnal ambush predator. It eats small ruffs, perches, roach, smelt, etc., that is, fish that live at the bottom of reservoirs.

After reaching puberty, eels rush along rivers and canals into the ocean. At the same time, they often end up in hydraulic structures, which can even cause emergency situations. But most eels avoid obstacles, crawling like snakes for some part of the path on land.

The taste of eel is well known. It can be boiled, fried, pickled and even dried. But it is especially good when smoked. It is a delicacy served at the most exquisite banquets and receptions.

The beneficial properties of eel

Eel meat contains about 30% high-quality fats, about 15% proteins, a complex of vitamins and minerals. Eel contains a large amount of vitamins,,, and. The high protein content in eel meat has a beneficial effect on the human body.

Few people know that in Japan the popularity of eel meat grows closer to summer, since eel helps relieve fatigue in the heat and helps the Japanese better endure the hot summer period. The fish oil contained in conger eel meat prevents the development of cardiovascular diseases.

In addition to its incomparable taste, sea eel is a source of Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as sodium and potassium, which are essential for health.

Eel has a high content of vitamin E, so in hot weather the Japanese like to eat the so-called eel kebab.

Smoked eel also contains a large amount of vitamin A, which prevents eye diseases and skin aging.

Separately, we can note the usefulness of smoked eel for men - the substances contained in eel have a beneficial effect on men's health.

Separately from the meat of the eel, they eat its liver or make soups from it. Since eel dishes are expensive, they are often served to guests. The gift of an eel dish can be a worthy substitute for a bottle of good wine. The exceptional taste of eel is also revealed in soups.