Mottled_eel

<i>Anguilla bengalensis</i>

Anguilla bengalensis

Species of fish


The mottled eel[3] (Anguilla bengalensis), also known as the African mottled eel, the Indian longfin eel, the Indian mottled eel, the long-finned eel or the river eel,[4] is a demersal, catadromous[5] eel in the family Anguillidae.[6] It was described by John McClelland in 1844.[7] It is a tropical, freshwater eel which is known from East Africa, Bangladesh, Andaman Islands, Mozambique, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and Indonesia and recently from Madagascar.[8] The eels spend most of their lives in freshwater at a depth range of 3–10 metres, but migrate to the Indian Ocean to breed. Males can reach a maximum total length of 121 centimetres and a maximum weight of 7,000 grams.[6] The eels feed primarily off of benthic crustaceans, mollusks, finfish and worms.[9]

Quick Facts Anguilla bengalensis, Conservation status ...

Even though widely distributed, the Mottled eel was listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Redlist as of 2019.[10] Although the eels are too large for use in aquariums, they are commercial in subsistence fisheries.[6]

The exact classification of the species was a debate in recent times, where some major fish websites (ex. Fish Base) classified the species under the name A. nebulosa. But according to the IUCN Red List 2015 version, the fish species should be classified as A. bengalensis with some subspecies.[11]

Subspecies


References

  1. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Jacoby, D.; Gollock, M. (2020). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T61668607A176497430. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T61668607A176497430.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Synonyms of Anguilla nebulosa Archived 2016-03-08 at the Wayback Machine at www.fishbase.org.
  3. Common names for Anguilla nebulosa Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine at www.fishbase.org.
  4. Anguilla nebulosa Archived 2013-04-12 at archive.today at www.fishbase.org.
  5. McClelland, J., 1844 (5 July) [ref. 2928] Apodal fishes of Bengal. Calcutta Journal of Natural History v. 5 (no. 18): 151-226, Pls. 5-14.
  6. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Gollock, M.; Jacoby, D. (2019). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T61668607A96227813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T61668607A96227813.en. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  7. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Gollock, M.; Jacoby, D. (2019). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T61668607A96227813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T61668607A96227813.en. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  8. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis in FishBase. 05 2006 version.
  9. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Anguilla bengalensis labiata in FishBase. 05 2006 version.

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