Anguillidae

Anguillidae
Temporal range: Danian–0
Early Paleocene (Danian) to Present[1]
American eel (Anguilla rostrata)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Anguilliformes
Family: Anguillidae
Rafinesque, 1810
Genus: Anguilla
Garsault, 1764[2][3][4]
Type species
Anguilla anguilla
Species

See text

The Anguillidae are a family of ray-finned fish that contains the freshwater eels. Except from the genus Neoanguilla, with the only known species Neoanguilla nepalensis from Nepal,[5] all the extant species and six subspecies in this family are in the genus Anguilla, and are elongated fish of snake-like bodies, with long dorsal, caudal and anal fins forming a continuous fringe. They are catadromous, spending their adult lives in freshwater, but migrating to the ocean to spawn.

Eels are an important food fish and some species are now farm-raised, but not bred in captivity. Many populations in the wild are now threatened, and Seafood Watch recommend consumers avoid eating anguillid eels.

  1. ^ Werner Schwarzhans (2012). "Fish otoliths from the Paleocene of Bavaria (Kressenberg) and Austria (Kroisbach and Oiching-Graben)". Palaeo Ichthyologica. 12: 1–88.
  2. ^ Pl. 661 in Garsault, F. A. P. de 1764. Les figures des plantes et animaux d'usage en medecine, décrits dans la Matiere Medicale de Mr. Geoffroy medecin, dessinés d'après nature par Mr. de Gasault, gravés par Mrs. Defehrt, Prevost, Duflos, Martinet &c. Niquet scrip. [5]. – pp. [1–4], index [1–20], Pl. 644-729. Paris.
  3. ^ Welter-Schultes, F. W.; Klug, R. (2009). "Nomenclatural consequences resulting from the rediscovery of Les figures des plantes et animaux d'usage en médecine, a rare work published by Garsault in 1764, in the zoological literature". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 66 (3): 225–241. doi:10.21805/bzn.v66i3.a1.
  4. ^ Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R., eds. (2022). "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  5. ^ Fishes of the World