American eel
Scientific name: Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur, 1817)
Overview
The American eel is a facultative catadromous eel found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The American eel has a slender, supple, snake-like body that is covered with a mucus layer, which makes the eel appear to be naked and slimy despite the presence of minute scales. A long dorsal fin runs from the middle of the back and is continuous with a similar ventral fin. Pelvic fins are absent, and relatively small pectoral fins can be found near the midline, followed by the head and gill covers. Variations exist in coloration, from olive green, brown shading to greenish-yellow and light gray or white on the belly. Eels from clear water are often lighter than those from dark, tannic acid streams.
From the Wikipedia article “American eel”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
Common names
Also known in English as freshwater eel.
Names in other languages (9)
- Arabic
- أنقليس أمريكي
- Chinese
- 美洲鰻鱺
- French
- anguille d'Amérique
- German
- Amerikanischer Aal
- Japanese
- アメリカウナギ
- Persian
- مارماهی آمریکایی
- Portuguese
- Enguia-americana
- Russian
- Американский речной угорь
- Spanish
- anguila americana
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q469632, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “American eel”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Ellen Edmonson and Hugh Chrisp, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Original uploader was Kils at en.wikipedia English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026