# American eel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/American_eel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/American_eel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_eel > Source revision: 1343316967 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of fish}} {{pp-pc|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Speciesbox | image = American Eel.jpg | image2 = American eel (Anguilla rostrata) (4015394951).jpg | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref={{cite iucn |author=Jacoby, D. |author2=Casselman, J. |author3=DeLucia, M.-B. |author4=Gollock, M. |date=2017 |title=''Anguilla rostrata'' |article-number=e.T191108A121739077 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T191108A121739077.en |access-date=11 November 2021}} | status2 = G4 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = {{cite NatureServe |id=2.102540 |title=''Anguilla rostrata'' |access-date=24 January 2025}} | genus = Anguilla | species = rostrata | authority = [Lesueur](/source/Charles_Alexandre_Lesueur), 1821 | synonyms = ''Leptocephalus grassii'' | range_map = Anguilla rostrata map.svg | range_map_caption = Range map }} The '''American eel''' ('''''Anguilla rostrata''''') is a facultative [catadromous](/source/catadromous) [eel](/source/eel) found on the eastern coast of North America. [Freshwater eels](/source/Anguillidae) are [fish](/source/fish) belonging to the [elopomorph](/source/Elopomorpha) superorder, a group of [phylogenetically](/source/Phylogenetics) ancient [teleost](/source/teleost)s.Nelson JS (1994) ''Fishes of the world''. John Wiley and Sons, New York The American eel has a slender, supple, snake-like body that is covered with a [mucus](/source/mucus) layer, which makes the eel appear to be naked and slimy despite the presence of minute [scales](/source/Fish_scale). A long [dorsal fin](/source/dorsal_fin) runs from the middle of the back and is continuous with a similar [ventral](/source/ventral) fin. [Pelvic fin](/source/Pelvic_fin)s are absent, and relatively small [pectoral](/source/pectoral_fin) 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](/source/Blackwater_river) acid streams.McCord, John W. [http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/AmericanEel.pdf American Eel]. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources The eel lives in [fresh water](/source/fresh_water) and estuaries and only leaves these habitats to enter the Atlantic Ocean to make its spawning migration to the [Sargasso Sea](/source/Sargasso_Sea).[Nuwer, Rachel](/source/Rachel_Nuwer) (December 7, 2015) [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/science/closing-in-on-where-eels-go-to-connect.html Closing In on Where Eels Go to Connect]. ''New York Times'' Spawning takes place far offshore, where the eggs hatch. The female can lay up to 4 million buoyant eggs and dies after egg-laying. After the eggs hatch and the early-stage larvae develop into [leptocephali](/source/Leptocephalus), the young eels move toward North America, where they metamorphose into glass eels and enter freshwater systems where they grow as yellow eels until they begin to mature. The American eel is found along the Atlantic coast including the tributaries of the [Chesapeake Bay](/source/Chesapeake_Bay), the [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River), and the [Hudson River](/source/Hudson_River), and as far north as the [Saint Lawrence River](/source/Saint_Lawrence_River). It is also present in the river systems of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and in some areas further south. Like all anguillid eels, American eels hunt predominantly at night, and during the day they hide in mud, sand, or gravel very close to shore, at depths of roughly {{Convert|5-6|ft}}. They feed on crustaceans, aquatic insects, small insects, and probably any aquatic organisms that they can find and eat.[https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/foodweb/LOfoodweb.pdf NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory] Eels were once an abundant species in rivers and were an important fishery for aboriginal people. The construction of hydroelectric dams has blocked their migrations and locally extirpated eels in many watersheds. For example, in Canada, the vast numbers of eels in the St. Lawrence and [Ottawa](/source/Ottawa) Rivers have dwindled.{{Cite web |title=American Eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') in Canada |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CW69-14-458-2006E.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251219035123/https://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CW69-14-458-2006E.pdf |archive-date=2025-12-19 |access-date=2026-01-24 |website=publications.gc.ca}} ==Description== thumb|Juvenile eels [[File:American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) - white background.jpg|thumb|30"-long American eel captured from the Missouri River near [Yankton, SD](/source/Yankton%2C_South_Dakota)]] American eels can grow to {{convert|1.22|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and to {{convert|7.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight. Females are generally larger than males, lighter in color, with smaller eyes and higher fins.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=D.G. |chapter=Order ANGUILLIFORMES |editor-last=Carpenter |editor-first=Kent E. |title=The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae) |year=2002 |publisher=FAO |location=Rome |series=FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5 |isbn=92-5-104825-8 |pages=692–693 |url=http://www.fao.org/3/y4161e/y4161e.pdf }} The body is elongate and snake-like. Its dorsal and anal fins are confluent with the rudimentary caudal fin. It lacks ventral fins but pectoral fins are present. The [lateral line](/source/lateral_line) is well-developed and complete. The head is long and conical, with rather small, well-developed eyes. The mouth is terminal with jaws that are not particularly elongated. The teeth are small, pectinate or setiform in several series on the jaws and the [vomer](/source/vomer). Minute teeth also present on the [pharyngeal](/source/pharynx) bones, forming a patch on the upper pharyngeals. Tongue present with thick lips that are attached by a frenum in front. Nostrils are superior and well separated. Gill openings are partly below pectoral fins, relatively well-developed and well separated from one another. Inner gill slits are wide.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-12-16 |title=New England/Mid-Atlantic {{!}} NOAA Fisheries |url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/new-england-mid-atlantic |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=NOAA |language=en}} The scales are small, rudimentary, cycloid, relatively well embedded below the epidermis and therefore often difficult to see without magnification.Hardy, J.D., Jr. (1978) ''Development of Fishes of the Mid-Atlantic Bight: An Atlas of Egg, Larval, and Juvenile Stages''. Volume II – Anguillidae thorough Syngnathidae. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The scales are not arranged in overlapping rows as they often are in other fish species but are rather irregular, in some places distributed like "parquet flooring". In general, one row of scales lies at right angle to the next, although the rows immediately above and below the lateral line lie at an angle of approximately 45°. Unlike other bony fishes, the first scales do not develop immediately after the larval stage but appear much later on.Tesch F.W. (2003). ''The eel''. Third Edition. Blackwell Science. {{ISBN|0632063890}} Several morphological features distinguish the American eel from other eel species. Three morphological characteristics persist through all stages from larvae to maturing eels: the total number of vertebrae (mean 107.2), the number of [myomere](/source/myomere)s (mean 108.2), and the distance between the origin of the dorsal fin to the anus (mean 9.1% of total length).Tesch, F.W. (1977). ''The eel: biology and management of anguillid eels''. Chapman and Hall, London ==Distribution and natural habitat== ===Geographic range=== The distribution of the American eel encompasses all accessible freshwater (streams and lakes), estuaries and coastal marine waters across a latitudinal range of 5 to 62 N.Bertin, L. (1956). ''Eels: a biological study''. Cleaver-Hume Press Ltd., London. Their natural range includes the western North Atlantic Ocean coastline from Venezuela to Greenland and including Iceland.Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman. (1973) ''Freshwater fishes of Canada''. Bulletin 184, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa. The Bryant Press Limited, Ottawa, ON. Inland, this species extends into the Great Lakes and the Mississippi RiverJessop, B.M. (2006) ''Underwater world: American Eel''. Communications Directorate, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa, ON. and its tributaries as far upstream as Minnesota and Wisconsin.{{Cite web |last=Cochran |first=Philip |date=2006 |title=Historical Notes on American Eels (Anguilla rostrata) in the Upper Midwest |url=http://www.nanfa.org/ac/historical-notes-american-eels-upper-midwest.pdf |website=[North American Native Fishes Association](/source/North_American_Native_Fishes_Association)}} Nonindigenous occurrences of this species in the United States were recorded from [Lake Mead](/source/Lake_Mead) on the [Colorado River](/source/Colorado_River) and on the Arizona border.Minckley, W. L. (1973). ''Fishes of Arizona''. Arizona Fish and Game Department. Sims Printing Company, Inc., Phoenix, AZ. It was stocked on a few occasions in [Sacramento](/source/Sacramento) and [San Francisco Bay](/source/San_Francisco_Bay), California, in the late 1800s. No apparent evidence of survival on these occasions was noted.Smith, H. M. (1896). "A review of the history and results of the attempts to acclimatize fish and other water animals in the Pacific states", pp. 379–472 in ''Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission'', Vol. XV, for 1895. It was also stocked and unintentionally introduced in various states, including Illinois, Indiana,{{cite journal | last1 = Gerking | first1 = S. D. | year = 1945 | title = Distribution of the fishes of Indiana | journal = Investigations of Indiana Lakes and Streams | volume = 3 | pages = 1–137 }} Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina,Shute, P.W. and D.A. Etnier. (2000). Southeastern fishes council regional reports – 2000. Region III – North-Central. Ohio and Pennsylvania.Sigler, F. F., and R. R. Miller. (1963). ''Fishes of Utah''. Utah Department of Fish and Game, Salt Lake City, UT. Stockings of this species also occurred in Utah in the late 1800s, but soon disappeared.Fuller, Pam and Nico, Leo (2012) [https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=310 ''Anguilla rostrata'']. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. ===Natural habitat=== [[File:American eel in Long Pond, Littleton Massachusetts 2021.webm|thumb|right|200px|American eel in Long Pond, [Littleton, Massachusetts](/source/Littleton%2C_Massachusetts), in 2021]] Eels are bottom dwellers. They hide in burrows, tubes, snags, masses of plants, other types of shelters. They are found in a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, and muddy or silt-bottomed lakes during their freshwater stage, as well as oceanic waters, coastal bays and estuaries.Scott, W.B and Scott, M.G. (1988) "Atlantic fishes of Canada". ''Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences'' 219. Individuals during the continental stage occasionally migrate between fresh, salt and brackish water habitats and have varying degrees of residence time in each.Fletcher, G.L. and T. Anderson. (March 1972). "A preliminary survey of the distribution of the American Eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') in Newfoundland". MSRL Technical Report No. 7. Marine Sciences Research Laboratory, St. John's, NL.Clarke, K.D., R.J. Gibson and D.A. Scruton. (January 2007). "A review of the habitat associations and distribution of the American Eel within Newfoundland and Labrador". Presentation at the [Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research](/source/Canadian_Conference_for_Fisheries_Research).{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1139/F09-189| title = Geographic effects on American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') life history characteristics and strategies| journal = Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences| volume = 67| issue = 2| pages = 326–346| year = 2010| last1 = Jonsson | first1 = B. | last2 = Jessop | first2 = B. M.| bibcode = 2010CJFAS..67..326J}} During winter, eels burrow under the mud and enter a state of [torpor](/source/torpor) at temperatures below {{Cvt|5|C}},{{cite journal|author1=Walsh, P.J.|author2= Foster, G.D. |author3=Moon, T.W. |year=1983|title= The effects of temperature on metabolism of the American Eel ''Anguilla rostrata'' (LeSueur): compensation in the summer and torpor in the winter|journal= Physiological Zoology |volume=56|issue= 4 |pages= 532–540|jstor=30155876 |doi=10.1086/physzool.56.4.30155876|s2cid= 87523062 }} although they may occasionally be active during this period. American eels move from freshwater to estuaries and coastal bays to feed during spring, then either a return during the fall to overwinter (juvenile and immature adults), or a southward migration to the spawning grounds (silver eels). Continental phase eels appear highly plastic in habitat use. Eels are extremely mobile and may access habitats that appear unavailable to them, using small watercourses or moving through wet grasses. Small eels (<100 mm total length) are able to climb and may succeed in passing over vertical barriers.{{cite journal | last1 = Legault | first1 = A | year = 1988 | title = Le franchissement des barrages par l'escalade de l'anguille: étude en Sèvre Niortaise | url = http://www.kmae-journal.org/articles/kmae/pdf/1988/01/kmae198830801.pdf | journal = Bulletin Français de la Pêche et de la Pisciculture | volume = 308 | issue = 308 | pages = 1–10 | doi = 10.1051/kmae:1988010 | doi-access = free }} Habitat availability may be reduced by factors such as habitat deterioration, barriers to upstream migration (larger eels), and barriers (i.e. turbines) to downstream migration that can result in mortality. ==Life cycle== {{Main|Eel life history}} The American eel's life cycle begins far offshore in the [Sargasso Sea](/source/Sargasso_Sea) in a [semelparous](/source/Semelparity_and_iteroparity) and [panmictic](/source/Panmixia) reproduction.Helfman, G.S., D.E. Facey, L.S. Hales, Jr., and E.L Bozeman, Jr. (1987). "Reproductive ecology of the American Eel". pp. 42–56 in M.J. Dadswell, R.L. Klauda, C.M. Moffitt, R.L. Saunders, R.A. Rulifson, and J.E. Cooper (eds.) ''Common strategies of anadromous and catadromous fishes''. American Fisheries Society Symposium 1, Maryland.{{cite journal|author=Schmidt, J. |year=1922|title= The breeding places of the eel|journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B|volume= 211|issue=382–390|pages= 179–208|jstor=92087|doi=10.1098/rstb.1923.0004|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal | pmid = 12713741 | pmc = 1691294 | year = 2003 | last1 = Wirth | first1 = T | title = Decline of North Atlantic eels: A fatal synergy? | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 270 | issue = 1516 | pages = 681–8 | last2 = Bernatchez | first2 = L | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2002.2301 }} In 1926 [Marie Poland Fish](/source/Marie_Poland_Fish) described the collection of eggs that she observed hatch into eels,{{Cite journal|last=Fish|first=Marie Poland|author-link=Marie Poland Fish|date=1926|title=Preliminary Note on the Egg and Larva of the American Eel (Anguilla rostrata)|journal=Science|volume=64|issue=1662|pages=455–456|doi=10.1126/science.64.1662.455 |jstor=1651252 |pmid=17741951 |bibcode=1926Sci....64..455P |issn=0036-8075}} which she expanded in her taxonomic description of the larval egg development.{{cite journal|last1=Fish|first1=Marie Poland|date=1927|title=Contributions to the Embryology of the American Eel (Anguilla rostrata Lesueur)|url=https://archive.org/details/zoologicasci819261931newy/page/288/mode/2up|journal=Zoologica|volume=8|issue=5|pages=289–324}} From there, young eels drift with ocean currents and then migrate inland into streams, rivers and lakes. This journey may take many years to complete with some eels traveling as far as 6,000 kilometers. After reaching these freshwater bodies, they feed and mature for approximately 10 to 25 years before migrating back to the Sargasso Sea in order to complete their life cycle.thumb|JuvenileThe eggs hatch within a week of deposition in the Sargasso Sea. Fecundity for many eels is between about 0.5 to 4.0 million eggs, with larger individuals releasing as many as 8.5 million eggs. The [leptocephalus](/source/leptocephalus) is the larval form of the eel. Leptocephali are transparent with a small, pointed head and large teeth. The laterally compressed larvae are passively transported west and north to the coastal waters on the eastern coast of North America, by the surface currents of the Gulf Stream system, a journey that will last between 7 and 12 months. As they enter the continental shelf, leptocephali metamorphose into glass eels (juveniles), which are transparent and possess the typical elongate and serpentine eel shape. The term glass eel refers to all developmental stages between the end of metamorphosis and full pigmentation. Glass eels become progressively pigmented as they approach the shore; these eels are termed elvers. The melanic pigmentation process occurs when the young eels are in coastal waters. At this phase of the life cycle, the eel is still sexually undifferentiated. The elver stage lasts about three to twelve months. Elvers that enter fresh water may spend much of this period migrating upstream. Elver influx is linked to increased temperature and reduced flow early in the migration season, and to tidal cycle influence later on. The sexually immature adult stage of American eel is called the yellow eel. As the maturation process proceeds, the yellow eel metamorphoses into a silver eel. The silvering metamorphosis results in morphological and physiological modifications that prepare the animal to migrate back to the Sargasso Sea. The eel acquires a greyish colour with a whitish or cream coloration ventrally. The digestive tract degenerates, the pectoral fins enlarge to improve swimming capacity, eye diameter expands and visual pigments in the retina adapt to the oceanic environment, and the integument thickens. ==Feeding== Eels are nocturnal and most of their feeding therefore occurs at night. Having a keen sense of smell, eels most likely depend on scent to find food. The American eel is a generalist species which colonizes a wide range of habitats. Their diet is therefore extremely diverse and includes most of the aquatic animals sharing the same environment. The American eel feeds on a variety of things such as worms, small fish, clams and other mollusks, crustaceans such as soft-shelled crabs and a lot of macroinvertebrate insects. A study on gastric examination of eels revealed that "macroinvertebrates, predominantly of the Class Insecta, were eaten by 169 eels (99% of feeding eels)" and "the stonefly Acroneuria was the single most numerically dominant taxon observed in the diet, occurring in 67% of eel stomachs that contained food".{{Cite journal |last=Denoncourt |first=Charles E. |date=1993 |title="Feeding selectivity of the American eel Anguilla rostrata (LeSueur) in the upper Delaware River." |journal=American Midland Naturalist|volume=129 |issue=2 |pages=301–308 |doi=10.2307/2426511 |jstor=2426511 }} The yellow eel is essentially a nocturnal benthic omnivore. Prey includes fishes, molluscs, bivalves, crustaceans, insect larvae, surface-dwelling insects, worms, frogs and plants. The eel prefers small prey animals which can easily be attacked. Food type varies with body size. Stomachs of eels less than 40 cm and captured in streams contained mainly aquatic insect larvae, whereas larger eels fed predominantly on fishes and crayfishes. Insect abundance decreased in larger eels. The eel diet adapts to seasonal changes and the immediate environment. Feeding activity decreases or stops during the winter, and food intake ceases as eels physiologically prepare for the spawning migration.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/1351085| jstor = 1351085| title = Food Habits and Seasonal Abundance of the American eel, ''Anguilla rostrata'', from the Lower Chesapeake Bay| journal = Chesapeake Science| volume = 16| issue = 1| pages = 62–66| year = 1975| last1 = Wenner | first1 = C. A. | last2 = Musick | first2 = J. A. | bibcode = 1975CpkSc..16...62W}} ===Predation=== Little information about predation on eels has been published. It was reported that elvers and small yellow eels are prey of largemouth bass and striped bass, although they were not a major parts of these predators' diet.Hornberger, M. L., J. S. Tuten, A. Eversole, J. Crane, R. Hansen, and M. Hinton. (1978) "Anierican eel investigations". Completion report for March 1977 – July 1978. South Carolina Wi1dlife and Marine Research Department, Charleston, and Clemson University, Clemson. Leptocephali, glass eels, elvers, and small yellow eels are likely to be eaten by various predatory fishes. Older eels are also known to eat incoming glass eels.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1577/1548-8659(1986)115<258:ECOTFM>2.0.CO;2| title = Environmental Correlates of the Freshwater Migration of Elvers of the American Eel in a Rhode Island Brook| journal = Transactions of the American Fisheries Society| volume = 115| issue = 2| pages = 258–268| year = 1986| last1 = Sorensen | first1 = P. W. | last2 = Bianchini | first2 = M. L. | bibcode = 1986TrAFS.115..258S|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230584150}} They also fall prey to other species of eels, [bald eagles](/source/bald_eagles), [gulls](/source/gulls), as well as other fish-eating birds.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1967.tb05034.x| title = On the food of the freshwater eels and their feeding relationship with the salmonids| journal = Journal of Zoology| volume = 153| pages = 119–137| year = 2009| last1 = Sinha | first1 = V. R. P.| last2 = Jones | first2 = J. W.}} American eels also make up the entirety of the diet of adult rainbow snakes, lending the species one of their common names: eel moccasin.{{Cite web |title=Rainbow Snake |url=https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/rainbow-snake |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=Chesapeake Bay Program |language=en-US}} ==Commercial fisheries== [[File:Wild capture of Anguilla rostrata.png|thumb|400px|right|{{center|Global capture of American eel in tonnes reported by the [FAO](/source/FAO), 1950–2009Based on data sourced from the [http://faostat.fao.org/site/629/default.aspx FishStat database], FAO.}}]] The major outlet for US landings of yellow and silver eels is the EU market. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the American eel was one of the top three species in commercial value to Ontario's fishing industry. At its peak, the eel harvest was valued at $600,000 and, in some years, eel accounted for almost half of the value of the entire commercial fish harvest from Lake Ontario. The commercial catch of American eel has declined from approximately 223,000 kilograms (kg) in the early 1980s to 11,000 kg in 2002.{{Cite web |last= |title=American Eel |url=http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/SORR/2ColumnSubPage/EELPAGE.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410174016/http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/SORR/2ColumnSubPage/EELPAGE.html |archive-date=2014-04-10 |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.mnr.gov.on.ca |language=en}} ==Conservation== {{See also|Freshwater eel poaching and smuggling}} According to the [International Union for Conservation of Nature](/source/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature), the American eel is at very high risk of extinction in the wild.{{cite magazine | url = http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/american-eel-is-in-danger-of-extinction/ | title = American Eel Is in Danger of Extinction | date = December 1, 2014 | magazine = [Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American)}} Despite being able to live in a wide range of temperatures and different levels of salinity, American eels are very sensitive to low dissolved oxygen level,{{cite journal|author=Hill, L. J. |year=1969|title= Reactions of the American eel to dissolved oxygen tensions|journal= Tex. J. Sci.|volume= 20|pages=305–313}} which is typically found below dams. Contaminations of heavy metals, [dioxins](/source/Dioxins_and_dioxin-like_compounds), [chlordane](/source/chlordane), and [polychlorinated biphenyls](/source/polychlorinated_biphenyls) as well as pollutants from [nonpoint source](/source/nonpoint_source) can [bioaccumulate](/source/bioaccumulate) within the fat tissues of the eels, causing dangerous toxicity and reduced productivity.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1139/f94-049| title = Spatial and Temporal Variations in Chemical Contamination of American Eels, ''Anguilla rostrata'', Captured in the Estuary of the St, Lawrence River| journal = Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences| volume = 51| issue = 2| pages = 464–478| year = 1994| last1 = Hodson | first1 = P. V.| last2 = Castonguay | first2 = M.| last3 = Couillard | first3 = C. M.| last4 = Desjardins | first4 = C.| last5 = Pelletier | first5 = E.| last6 = McLeod | first6 = R.| bibcode = 1994CJFAS..51..464H}} The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the status of the American eel both in 2007 and in 2015, finding both times that Endangered Species Act protection for the American eel is not warranted.{{cite web |url = http://www.fws.gov/northeast/americaneel/ | title = The American Eel | publisher = U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service}} The Canadian province of Ontario has cancelled the commercial fishing quota since 2004. Eel sport fishery has been closed. Efforts have been made to improve the passage in which eels migrate across the hydroelectric dams on St. Lawrence River.{{Cite web |last= |title=Protecting the Vanishing American Eel |url=http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_165908.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410215220/http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_165908.html |archive-date=2014-04-10 |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.mnr.gov.on.ca |language=en}} As of August 2023, ''A. rostrata'' is under consideration for protection under the Canadian [Species at Risk Act](/source/Species_at_Risk_Act).{{cite web|url=https://species-registry.canada.ca/index-en.html#/species/891-632|title=American Eel (Anguilla rostrata)|website=Species at risk public registry|publisher=Government of Canada|date=13 June 2023|access-date=6 August 2023}} The [Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada](/source/Committee_on_the_Status_of_Endangered_Wildlife_in_Canada) reported that the species was threatened in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://species-registry.canada.ca/index-en.html#/documents/2452|title=COSEWIC assessment and status report on the American Eel Anguilla rostrata in Canada|year=2012|author=COSEWIC|publisher=Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada|location=Ottawa|access-date=6 August 2023}} On December 2, 2025, the government of Canada chose not to list the American eel on the Species at Risk registry, finding that "the population's abundance across Canada has remained stable over the past two decades."{{Cite web|title=Government of Canada commits to adaptive management approach to conserve and protect American Eel|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2025/12/government-of-canada-commits-to-adaptive-management-approach-to-conserve-and-protect-american-eel.html|website=www.canada.ca|date=2025-12-02|access-date=2026-01-24|first=|last=}} To help ''A. rostrata'' migrate safely, scientists are working on LED lights specifically designed to drive the eels away from dangerous obstacles or paths in their migration routes, such as hydro-electric facilities.{{cite journal |last1=Elvidge |first1=C. |last2=Ford |first2=M. |last3=Pratt |first3=T. |last4=Smokorowski |first4=K. |last5=Sills |first5=M. |last6=Patrick |first6=P. |last7=Cooke |first7=S. |title=Behavioural guidance of yellow-stage American eel Anguilla rostrata with a light- emitting diode device |journal=Endangered Species Research |date=2018 |volume=35 |pages=159–168 |doi=10.3354/esr00884 |doi-access=free }} In 2010, Greenpeace International has added the American eel to its seafood red list.{{Cite web |title=Greenpeace International Seafood Red list |url=http://www.greenpeace.org:80/international/seafood/red-list-of-species |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20111113064618/http://www.greenpeace.org:80/international/seafood/red-list-of-species |archive-date=2011-11-13 |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.greenpeace.org |language=en}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{Commons}} {{Wikispecies|Anguilla rostrata}} * {{FishBase|genus=Anguilla|species=rostrata|year=2005|month=10}} * [https://www.fws.gov/species/american-eel-anguilla-rostrata ESA protection] {{Taxonbar|from=Q469632}} {{Authority control}} American eel Category:Amphibious fish Category:Fish of the Western Atlantic Category:Fish of the Great Lakes Category:Fish of the Eastern United States Category:Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States Category:Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur American eel Category:Fish of Aruba Category:Fish of Canada Category:Fish of Cuba Category:Fish of the Dominican Republic Category:Fish of Greenland Category:Fish of Iceland Category:Euryhaline fish of Nicaragua Category:Vertebrates of Puerto Rico Category:Fish of Venezuela --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [American eel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_eel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_eel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.