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Anguilla Rostrata The American Eel is an anadromous species. Unlike the striped bass, and shad, the American Eel lives in freshwater and migrates to salt water to spawn. It is found throughout the eastern seaboard states in rivers, lakes and ponds. Usually they reside in shallow coves with silty and muddy bottoms. They live in the substrate during the day and become active at night. Winter months are spent buried in the mud. Eels are long snakelike fish. Males seldom exceed 24 inches whereas females can grow up to 40 inches. Sexual maturity is reached at 20" for females and 18" for males. Little is known about the eels spawning habits. They spawn in the Sargasso Sea, a western portion of the Atlantic east of the Bahamas and south of Bermuda. The larval stage lasts almost a full year. Larvae reside in the upper few hundred feet of ocean and slowly migrate back to the Eastern Shore. By the time the eels reach the estuaries in March and early April they have transformed into transparent eels called glass eels. They begin to take on pigmentation as they continue to migrate into freshwater streams and lakes. They will reside there until sexual maturity. Eels begin to migrate back to salt water in late fall. They spawn once and die. |
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The
American Eel