Eel 47334 225866347 2008-07-15T19:40:26Z Totnesmartin 1785980 /* Other Information */ EL changed to ref; bypassed disambiguation {{otheruses}} {{Taxobox | name = True eels | image = anguillarostratakils.jpg | image_width = 260px | image_caption = [[American eel]], ''Anguilla rostrata'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Actinopterygii]] | superordo = [[Elopomorpha]] | ordo = '''Anguilliformes''' | subdivision_ranks = Suborders | subdivision = See text for suborders and families. }} '''True eels''' ('''Anguilliformes''') are an [[order (biology)|order]] of [[fish]], which consists of 4 suborders, 19 [[Family (biology)|familie]]s, 110 [[genera]] and approximately 600 [[specie]]s. Most eels are [[predator]]s. The flat and transparent [[larva]] of the eel is called a [[leptocephalus]]. A young eel is called an '''elver'''. Most eels prefer to dwell in shallow waters or hide at the bottom layer of the [[ocean]], sometimes in holes. These holes are called eel pits. Only the [[Anguillidae]] family comes to fresh water to dwell there (not to breed). Some eels dwell in deep water (in case of family [[Synaphobranchidae]], this comes to a depth of {{convert|4000|m|ft||4}}, or are active swimmers (the family [[Nemichthyidae]] - to the depth of {{convert|500|m|ft||3}}). ==Classification== [[Image:Moray eel kona.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A [[moray eel]].]] [[Image:rostrata.jpg|thumb|Juvenile [[American eel]]s]] [[Image:FH000014.jpg|thumb|[[Garden eel]]s]] <!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Umbrellamouthgulpereel.jpg|thumb|[[Umbrella Mouth Gulper Eel]]s]] --> This classification follows [[FishBase]] in dividing the eels into fifteen families. Additional families that are included in other classifications (notably [[ITIS]] and [[Systema Naturae 2000]]) are noted below the family with which they are synomized in the FishBase system. ==Suborders and families== '''Suborder''' [[Anguilloidei]] *[[Anguillidae]] ([[freshwater eel]]s) *[[Chlopsidae]] ([[false moray]]s) *[[Heterenchelyidae]] *[[Moringuidae]] ([[spaghetti eel]]s) *[[Muraenidae]] ([[moray eel]]s) *[[Myrocongridae]] '''Suborder''' [[Congroidei]] *[[Colocongridae]] *[[Congridae]] ([[Congridae|conger]]s) **Including Macrocephenchelyidae *[[Derichthyidae]] ([[longneck eel]]s) **Including Nessorhamphidae *[[Muraenesocidae]] ([[conger pike]]s) *[[Nettastomatidae]] ([[witch eel]]s) *[[Ophichthidae]] ([[snake eel]]s) '''Suborder''' [[Nemichthyoidei]] *[[Nemichthyidae]] ([[snipe eel]]s) *[[Serrivomeridae]] ([[sawtooth eel]]s) '''Suborder''' [[Synaphobranchoidei]] *[[Synaphobranchidae]] ([[cutthroat eel]]s) **Including Dysommidae, Nettodaridae, and Simenchelyidae In some classifications the family [[Cyematidae]] of [[bobtail snipe eel]]s is included in the Anguilliformes, but in the FishBase system that family is included in the order [[Saccopharyngiformes]]. The so-called "[[Electric Eel]]" of South America is not a true eel, but is more closely related to the [[Carp]]. ==Use by humans== {{commercial fish topics}} [[Image:Unagi Kabayaki-2005-08-28.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Unajuu - broiled ([[kabayaki]]) eel on rice, served in a lacquered meal box)]] Freshwater eels (''[[unagi]]'') and marine eels ([[conger eel]], ''[[anago fish|anago]]'') are commonly used in [[Japanese cuisine]] - foods such as [[Unadon]] and Unajuu are popular but expensive. Eels are also very popular as food in Chinese cuisine, particularly [[Cantonese cuisine|Cantonese]] and [[Shanghai cuisine]]. Eel prices in Hong Kong often reached ¥1000 per kilogram, and even exceeded ¥5000 per kilogram at one time. Eel is also popular in [[Korean cuisine]] and is seen as a source of "stamina" for men. The [[European eel]] and other freshwater eels are eaten in Europe, the United States, and other places around the world. A traditional [[East London, England|East London]] food is [[jellied eels]]. The [[Basque cuisine|Basque]] delicacy ''angulas'' consists of [[deep frying|deep-fried]] elver (young eels).[http://www.buber.net/Basque/Food/food1.html]. [[New Zealand longfin eel]] is a traditional food for [[Maori]] in [[New Zealand]]. In [[Italian cuisine]] eels from the [[Comacchio]] area (a swampy zone along the [[Adriatic]] coast) are specially praised along with the freshwater ones of the [[Bolsena Lake]]. In northern [[Germany]] and in [[Netherlands|The Netherlands]], smoked eel is praised as a delicacy. Eels are popular among marine aquarists in the [[United States]], particularly the [[Moray eel]] which is commonly kept in tropical saltwater aquariums. Fishing for eels is best done at night with either a gaff or a strong line with a small and square bloody piece of red meat. Elvers were once eaten by fishermen as a cheap dish, but environmental changes have led to increased rarity of the fish. They are now considered a delicacy and are priced at up to £700 per kg in the United Kingdom. ==Name== The English name ''eel'' descends from [[Old English]] ''ǽl'', [[Common Germanic]] ''*{{IPA|ǣ}}loz''. Also from the common Germanic are [[Middle Dutch]] ''ael'', [[Old High German]] ''âl'', [[Old Norse]] ''áll''. Katz (1998)<ref>J. Katz, 'How to be a Dragon in Indo-European: Hittite illuyankas and its Linguistic and Cultural Congeners in Latin, Greek, and Germanic', in: ''Mír Curad. Studies in Honor of Calvert Watkins'', ed. Jasanoff, Melchert, Oliver, Innsbruck 1998, 317–334.</ref> identifies a number of [[Indo-European]] cognates, among them the second part of the Latin name of the eels, ''[[Anguilla (genus)|anguilla]]'', which is attested in its simplex form ''illa'' in a glossary only, and likewise the Greek word for "eel", ''egkhelys'', the second part being attested in [[Hesychius]] as ''elyes''. The first compound member, ''anguis'' "snake", is cognate to other Indo-European words for "snake", cf. Old Irish ''escung'' "eel", Old High German ''unc'' "snake", Lithuanian ''angìs'', Greek ''ophis, okhis'', [[Vedic Sanskrit]] ''[[vrtra|áhi]]'', [[Avestan language|Avestan]] ''aži'', Armenian ''auj, iž'', [[Old Church Slavonic]] ''*{{IPA|ǫ}}žь'', all from Proto-Indo-European ''*og<sup>uh</sup>is, ēg<sup>uh</sup>is''. The word also appears in Old English ''igil'' "hedgehog" (named as the "snake eater"), and perhaps in the ''egi-'' of Old High German ''egidehsa'' "wall lizard". The name of [[Bellerophon]] (Βελλερόντης, attested in a variant Ἐλλεροφόντης in [[Eustathius of Thessalonica]]) according to this theory is also related, translating to "the slayer of the serpent" (''[[ahihán]]''), the ελλερο- being an adjective for a lost ελλυ- "snake", directly comparable to Hittite ''ellu-essar-'' "snake pit". This myth likely came to Greece via Anatolia, and in the Hittite version, the dragon is called ''[[Illuyanka]]'', the ''illuy-'' part being cognate to the ''illa'' word, and the ''-anka'' part being cognate to the ''angu'' word for "snake". From these forms, no unambiguous Proto-Indo-European form for the ''eel'' word can be reconstructed, it could have been ''*ēl(l)-u-'', ''*ēl(l)-o-'' or similar. ==Other Information== There is an urban legend that wallets made out of [[electric eel]]s (which, despite their name, are not eels) can demagnetize [[credit card]]s. This was proven to be untrue in an episode of the ''[[MythBusters]]'' TV show. Actually, as pointed out in the [[Straight Dope]], eel-skin wallets are made from [[hagfish]] which are unrelated to electric eels.[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_388.html] Furthermore, it seems that magnetic clasps, not eel leather, are to blame for demagnetization. Eel blood is toxic. The toxic protein it contains is destroyed by cooking. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by [[Charles Robert Richet]] in his Nobel winning research which discovered [[anaphylaxis]] (by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect). On [[January 31]], [[1930]], the [[Denmark|Danish]] research ship "The Dana" captured what researchers believed to be a six-feet long eel larva near South Africa's [[Cape of Good Hope]]. This would have meant there were very long eels in the sea, since the typical eel larva is three inches long, while the adults can grow from about 4 feet to 16 feet long. In 1970, Dr. David G. Smith of the University of Miami identified the larva found as that of the [[Notacanthidae|spiny eel]], an eel-like fish whose larval length is equal to its adult length, while the larval length of the true eel is much shorter than its adult length.<ref>[http://www.strangemag.com/seaserpcarcsshuk.html "Giant Eel Larva?"] (retrieved 15 July 2008)</ref> One of the famous attractions of the [[Pacific]] island of [[Huahine]] (part of the [[Society Islands]] in [[French Polynesia]]), is the bridge that crosses over a stream with 3- to 6-foot long eels. These eels are deemed sacred by the locals, by local mythology. Aside from just viewing these slithering creatures, any tourist can buy a can of mackerel and feed the eels. ==References== <references/> * {{FishBase order|order = Anguilliformes|month = January|year = 2006}} * {{ITIS|ID=161123 |taxon=Anguilliformes|year=2008|date=04 June}} {{Actinopterygii}} [[Category:Anguilliformes| ]] [[Category:Commercial fish]] [[zh-min-nan:Môa]] [[bg:Змиоркообразни]] [[cs:Holobřiší]] [[da:Ålefisk]] [[de:Aalartige]] [[et:Angerjalised]] [[es:Anguilliformes]] [[fa:مارماهی]] [[fr:Anguilliformes]] [[io:Anguilo]] [[id:Sidat]] [[it:Anguilla (genere)]] [[he:צלופחאים]] [[ka:გველთევზასნაირნი]] [[la:Anguilliformes]] [[lt:Unguriažuvės]] [[hu:Angolnaalakúak]] [[ml:ആരല്‍]] [[ms:Belut]] [[nah:Cōāmichin]] [[nl:Palingachtigen]] [[ja:ウナギ目]] [[no:Ålefisker]] [[nn:Ålefisk]] [[pl:Węgorzokształtne]] [[pt:Anguilliformes]] [[sk:Úhorotvaré]] [[fi:Ankeriaskalat]] [[sv:Ålartade fiskar]] [[th:ปลาไหล]] [[vi:Bộ Cá chình]] [[chr:ᏢᏕᎦ]] [[tr:Anguilliformes]] [[uk:Вугроподібні]] [[wa:Anweye]] [[zh:鰻]]