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eel: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As Anguilliformes • anguilliform

Photos

American eel (Anguilla rostrata)
Illustration showing adult and larval forms of various eel species, including Nemichthys, Cyema, Anguilla, Gymnothorax, and Conger, with adults on the left and their transparent, leaf-shaped larvae on the right.
Illustration showing the metamorphosis of the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), with seven stages labeled A to G. The top three show increasingly larger transparent larvae, followed by three transitional forms, and ending with a more developed, elongated glass eel.
eels
A Conger oceanicus eel with a long, smooth, dark body and open mouth emerges from a rocky crevice surrounded by colorful coral.
North American eel
American eel
sharptail snake eel
American conger (Conger oceanicus)
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