Six Page Species Descriptions

The American Eel (Anguilla rostrata), is the only fish in the Bay Region that migrates
downstream to the ocean to give birth to its young. These eels undergo multiple periods of
metamorphosis throughout their life cycle. They hatch in warm, ocean, saltwater, and take years
to return to their natural habitat of U.S. estuaries. The eels mature and develop here, before
returning to their birthing place to spawn, and then die. This knowledge is a very recent
development, as most of the information about the lives of Eels was unknown up until very
recently. The American eel, found in freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats from Greenland to
South America, has since migrated from portions of its historical freshwater habitat during the
last 100 years, mostly resulting from dams built through the 1960s. Eels lose habitat and
migration corridors when waters are obstructed by dams and other mechanisms. Localized
population declines are also attributed to mortality in hydropower plant turbines, degradation of
current habitat, and overharvest. Eels have played a major role in the human diet in Europe and
Asia, and in many European countries, European eel populations have decreased as much as 99
percent. Glass eels, which are an early stage in the development of these eels, typcically fetch a
high price on the Asian market, and this young life phase of American eels has also been
harvested in the United States.

1.http://www.fws.gov/northeast/newsroom/eels.html