---
title: "What the sources say about the European Eel | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "53 claims from the European Eel profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/european-eel-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/european-eel/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the European Eel (*Anguilla anguilla*)

> 53 claims from the European Eel profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [European Eel](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/european-eel/)

## Anguilla anguilla summary page. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Anguilla-anguilla.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| thought to spawn only in the Sargasso Sea | Actual spawning has never been observed but is believed to occur solely in the Sargasso Sea (note: tagline; body) |
| its spawning has never been observed | Actual spawning has never been observed (note: tagline) |
| Rivers, lakes and coasts from Scandinavia to Morocco, including the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas | Atlantic coast from Scandinavia to Morocco; Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Seas; rivers of North Atlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean seas (note: stats.habitat) |
| Rivers, lakes | Inhabits all types of benthic habitats from streams to shores of large rivers and lakes (note: stats.habitat) |
| spawning area in the Sargasso Sea | Spawning area in western Atlantic (Sargasso Sea) (note: stats.habitat; body 'in the western Atlantic') |
| Adults leave European rivers and cross the Atlantic to the Sargasso Sea | When sexual maturity is reached they leave the river. (note: FAQ 1) |
| grows up in rivers, lakes and estuaries | They enter the estuaries and colonize rivers and lakes (note: body) |
| Actual spawning has never been observed. | Actual spawning has never been observed (note: body) |
| Eel larvae, called leptocephali, are transparent and ribbon-like. | Eel larvae (leptocephali) are transparent ribbon-like. (note: body) |
| The Gulf Stream carries them to the coasts of Europe over 7 to 11 months. | They are brought to the coasts of Europe by the Gulf Stream in 7 to 11 months time (note: body) |
| glass eels, 6 to 8 cm long, cylindrical and see-through or slightly coloured | glass eels (6-8 cm length, cylindrical in shape and transparent to slightly pigmented in colour) (note: body) |
| These enter estuaries and colonise rivers and lakes, though some stay in estuaries and coastal waters to grow up. | some individuals remain in estuaries and coastal waters to grow into adults (note: body) |
| A long feeding stage follows, from yellow eel to silver eel, lasting 6 to 12 years in males and 9 to 20 years in females. | The glass eel stage is followed by a long feeding period (from the yellow to the silver eel stage) lasting 6-12 years in males (Ref. 6125 ) and 9-20 years in females (note: body) |
| dark on the back and silver on the belly, with a black lateral line and enlarged eyes | Yellow eels eventually lose their pigmentation, becoming dark dorsally and silver ventrally (called silver eels). Silver eels are also characterized by a clear contrasting black lateral line and enlarged eyes (note: body) |
| facultative air-breather | Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274 ) (note: body; the gloss defines the term) |
| A common length for females is 50 cm | common length :50 cm TL (female) (note: body; FAQ 3 'half a metre') |
| males can grow up to 50 cm | Male eels can grow up to 50 cm TL (note: body) |
| a maximum of 133 cm for a female | 133.0 cm TL (female) (note: body; FAQ 3) |
| a maximum published weight of 6.6 kg | max. published weight: 6.6 kg (note: body; FAQ 3) |
| Average life span is usually 15 to 20 years. | Average life span is usually 15-20 years (note: body) |
| The range runs along the Atlantic coast from Scandinavia to Morocco and into the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas. | Atlantic coast from Scandinavia to Morocco; Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Seas (note: body) |
| The fish nobody has seen spawn | Actual spawning has never been observed (note: heading) |
| believed to breed only in the Sargasso Sea | Actual spawning has never been observed but is believed to occur solely in the Sargasso Sea (note: body) |
| 133 cm as the maximum total length for a female | 133.0 cm TL (female) (note: FAQ 3) |
| 6.6 kg as the maximum published weight | max. published weight: 6.6 kg (note: FAQ 3) |
| A common length for a female is 50 cm. | common length :50 cm TL (female) (note: FAQ 3) |
| tags: river | Inhabits all types of benthic habitats from streams to shores of large rivers and lakes (note: task #1267) |

## AnAge entry for Anguilla anguilla. Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Anguilla_anguilla

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| These silver eels do not eat on the way to the Sargasso Sea. | After transformation from juvenile to adult stage they do not eat and feature elevated corticosteroids while they migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn (note: body) |
| Keeping an eel in captivity stops the migration and greatly extends its life | Preventing migration by keeping animals in captivity significantly extends lifespan (note: body; FAQ 2) |
| a female called Putte, generally assumed to be a European eel, died at a museum in Sweden at about 88 | One female called "Putte", generally assumed to be a European eel, died at Halsinborgs Museum in Sweden at about 88 years of age (note: body; FAQ 2) |
| AnAge's maximum is about 88 years | Maximum longevity 88 years (captivity) (note: FAQ 2) |
| Wild eels die after their first spawning. | In the wild, these semelparous animals die after first spawning (note: FAQ 2) |
| weightKg: 3.6 | Adult weight 3,629 g (note: task #1267: AnAge average adult weight rounded; Light, where the name guess gave Medium. FishBase's 6.6 kg is a maximum) |

## Anguilla anguilla. Animal Diversity Web.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anguilla_anguilla/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Mostly aquatic invertebrates, but almost any food it can find | Their primary food source is aquatic invertebrates, but they will eat essentially any food they can find (note: stats.diet) |
| The diet is broad. | Adult eels have a fairly broad diet (note: body) |
| Adults mostly eat aquatic invertebrates, but they will eat essentially any food they can find, even things that are already dead. | Their primary food source is aquatic invertebrates, but they will eat essentially any food they can find-- even dead organisms (note: body) |

## Wright et al. (2022). First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| 5,000 to 10,000 km | a distance of 5000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea (note: tagline, superpower, FAQ 1, body) |
| Swims 5,000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic to spawn | As an adult, the European eel undertakes the longest spawning migration of all anguillid eels, a distance of 5000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea (note: superpower; FAQ 1) |
| As an adult it makes the longest spawning migration of any anguillid eel: 5,000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic. | As an adult, the European eel undertakes the longest spawning migration of all anguillid eels, a distance of 5000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea (note: body) |
| almost 100 years since Johannes Schmidt proposed the Sargasso Sea as the breeding place from surveys of larvae | despite the passage of almost 100 years since Johannes Schmidt proposed the Sargasso Sea as the breeding place of European eels on the basis of larval surveys (note: body) |
| no eggs or spawning adults had ever been sampled there | no eggs or spawning adults have ever been sampled there to confirm this (note: body; dated to the 2022 study) |
| fitted satellite tags to 26 eels from rivers in the Azores | We attached satellite tags to 26 eels from rivers in the Azores archipelago (note: body) |
| Five tags surfaced inside the Sargasso Sea's boundaries | Five of the pop-up locations were within the Sargasso Sea boundaries (note: body) |
| one eel was located inside the presumed breeding area | one eel was located within the presumed breeding area (note: body) |
| It was the first direct evidence of adult European eels reaching it. | ours is the first direct evidence of migrating adult European eels reaching the presumed breeding place in the Sargasso Sea (note: body) |
| The tagged eels averaged 6.8 km a day | mean 6.8 km day (note: blockquote) |
| eels may make a long, slow trip at depth that saves energy and lowers their risk of dying | The data therefore support the hypothesis that, rather than make a rapid migration to spawn at the earliest opportunity, European eels may instead make a long, slow spawning migration at depth that conserves their energy and reduces mortality risk (note: blockquote) |
| at 95% since the 1980s | suffered a 95% decline in recruitment since the 1980s (note: body; dated to the 2022 study) |
| A 2022 study | © Crown 2022, corrected publication 2022 (note: body; the study's publication year) |
| The 2022 study | © Crown 2022, corrected publication 2022 (note: body; the study's publication year) |
| Tagged European eels headed for the Sargasso Sea at an average of 6.8 km a day | mean 6.8 km day (note: vibe.reason) |
| in what the data suggest is a long, slow trip at depth | The data therefore support the hypothesis that, rather than make a rapid migration to spawn at the earliest opportunity, European eels may instead make a long, slow spawning migration at depth that conserves their energy and reduces mortality risk (note: vibe.reason) |

## Pike, Crook & Gollock (2026). Anguilla anguilla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2026: e.T60344A288387541.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2026-1.rlts.t60344a288387541.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Critically Endangered | IUCN Red List category: Critically Endangered (CR). (note: stats.conservationStatus; body) |