Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from five centimetres (2 in) to four metres (13 ft).[1] Adults range in weight from 30 grams to over 25 kilograms. They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal or tail fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal.[2] Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal and thus are rarely seen. Sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes deep as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). Only members of the family Anguillidae regularly inhabit fresh water, but they too return to the sea to breed.[3]
Eel blood is poisonous to humans[4] and other mammals,[5][6][7] but both cooking and the digestive process destroy the toxic protein. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by Charles Richet in his Nobel Prize-winning research, in which Richet discovered anaphylaxis by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect.
The Jewish laws of kashrut forbid the eating of eels.[8] Similarly, according to the King James Version of the Old Testament, it is acceptable to eat fin fish, but fish like eels are an abomination and should not be eaten.[9]
Japan consumes more than 70 percent of the global eel catch.[10]
- ^ McCosker, John F. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 86–90. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Order Anguilliformes". FishBase. January 2009 version.
- ^ Prosek, James (2010). Eels. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-056611-1.
- ^ "Poison in the Blood of the Eel", New York Times, 9 April 1899, viewed at [1], accessed 22 January 2010
- ^ "The plight of the eel", BBC online, as seen at [2], accessed 22 January 2010, mentions that "Only 0.1ml/kg is enough to kill small mammals, such as a rabbit..."
- ^ "Blood serum of the eel." M. Sato. Nippon Biseibutsugakukai Zasshi (1917), 5 (No. 35), From: Abstracts Bact. 1, 474 (1917)
- ^ "Hemolytic and toxic properties of certain serums." Wm. J. Keffer, Albert E. Welsh. Mendel Bulletin (1936), 8 76–80.
- ^ Yoreh De'ah - Shulchan-Aruch Archived 3 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Chapter 1, torah.org. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- ^ "All that are in the waters: all that... hath not fins and scales ye may not eat" (Deuteronomy 14:9-10) and are "an abomination" (Leviticus 11:9-12).
- ^ "Indonesia eel hot item for smugglers". The Japan Times. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.