Family ANGUILLIDAE

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Introduction

The Anguillidae comprise a single genus, Anguilla, with 19 species found in tropical and temperate seas, with the exception of the east Pacific and south Atlantic Oceans. Four species are found in Australian waters and are variously treated in Merrick & Schmida (1984), Smith (1999), Allen et al. (2002), Pusey et al. (2004, 2017) and Gomon (2008). Jellyman (1987) reviewed the life history.

Freshwater eels breed in the open ocean; some Australian species are thought to breed north-east of Australia near New Caledonia. The eggs hatch into leptocephalus larvae and, following metamorphosis, the elvers migrate to coastal rivers and freshwater streams and dams where they spend up to 10 years before returning to the sea to breed. Auguillids feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates, including insect larvae and fishes. Individuals may reach 2 m in length. Species are commercially important.

The freshwater eels were revised by Schmidt (1928) and Ege (1939); all species were illustrated. A more recent review is that of Tesch (1977). Beumer et al. (1981) provided a key to the Australian species. Minegishi et al. (2005) and Teng et al. (2009) presented molecular phylogenys of Anguilla. Inoue et al. (2010) hypothesised that freshwater eels evolved in the deep sea.

 

General References

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp.

Beumer, J.P., Pearson, R.G. & Penridge, L.K. 1981. Pacific short-finned eel Anguilla obscura Günther, 1871 in Australia: recent records of its distribution and maximum size. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 92: 85-90 figs 1-2

Gomon, M.F. 2008. Family Anguillidae. pp. 156-157 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Inoue, J.G., M. Miya, M.J. Miller, T. Sado, R. Hanel, K. Hatooka, J. Aoyama, Y. Minegishi, M. Nishida & K. Tsukamoto. 2010. Deep-ocean origin of the freshwater eels. Biology Letters 6(3): 363–366

Jellyman, D.J. 1987. Review of the marine, life history of Australasian temperate species of Anguilla. American Fisheries Society Symposium 1. pp. 276-285

Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes Biology and Management. Sydney : J.R. Merrick 409 pp. figs 280 col. figs.

Minegishi Y, Aoyama, J., Inoue, J.G., Miya, M., Nishida, M. & Tsukamoto, K. 2005. Molecular phylogeny and evolution of the freshwater eels genus Anguilla based on the whole mitochondrial genome sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 334: 134-146

Pusey, B.J., Burrows, D.W., Kennard, M.J., Perna, C.N., Unmack. P.J., Allsop, Q. & Hammer, M.P. 2017. Freshwater fishes of northern Australia. Zootaxa 4253(1): 1-104

Pusey, B.J., Kennard, M.J. & Arthington, A.H. 2004. Freshwater Fishes of North-eastern Australia. Collingwood, Victoria : CSIRO Publishing 684 pp. [71-91]

Schmidt, J. 1928. The fresh-water eels of New Zealand. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 58: 379-388 figs 1-8 [1927]

Smith, D.G. 1999. Families Halosauridae, Notacanthidae, Lipogenyidae, Anguillidae, Moringuidae, Chlopsidae, Myrocongridae. pp. 1625-1642 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.

Teng, H.-Y., Lin, Y.-S. & Tzeng, C.-S. 2009. A new Anguilla species and a reanalysis of the phylogeny of freshwater eels. Zoological Studies 48(6): 808-822

Tesch, F.-W. 1977. The Eel. Biology and Management of Anguillid Eels. London : Chapman & Hall 434 pp. 128 figs.

 

Common Name References

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & Allen, M. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 394 pp. [59] (Freshwater Eels)

Smith, D.G. 1999. Families Halosauridae, Notacanthidae, Lipogenyidae, Anguillidae, Moringuidae, Chlopsidae, Myrocongridae. pp. 1625-1642 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068. [1630] (FAO) (Freshwater Eels)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
23-Sep-2011	ANGUILLIFORMES	23-Sep-2011	MOVED	Dr Dianne Bray
		12-Feb-2010	(import)