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Anguilla marmorata Quoy and Gaimard, 1824
GIANT MOTTLED EEL
Marbled Eel; Giant mottled freshwater eel

Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Anguillidae   Anguilla



Anguilla marmorata
© Copyright Photographer/SFTEP, 2002 · 0
Anguilla marmorata

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Anguilla marmorata
© Copyright Gerald Allen, 2006 · 0
Anguilla marmorata

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Overview
Main identification features
  • lips thick;mouth ends under eye
  • small imbedded scales
  • dorsal fin origin well behind pectoral
  • teeth minute, in bands
  • large pectorals
  • mottled - green and brown
Body robust; tail compressed; small imbedded scales present in adults but not juveniles; with large pectoral fins; dorsal fin origin well behind pectoral fin; dorsal and anal fins continuous with tail fin; mouth reaching to under rear edge of eye; lips thick; teeth minute, in bands; teeth on jaws with toothless groove separating inner and outer teeth; patch of teeth on front roof of mouth narrows conspicuously in its middle; lateral line complete but pores very small; 100-110 vertebrae.

Yellowish to olive or brown, mottled with dark greenish brown, lighter below; all fins dark.

Reaches 2m.

0-2m depth.

Widely distributed in the Indo-central Pacific; recently found in the Galapagos, where it evidently is a vagrant. Adults in fresh to brackish water, migrate long distances to spawning grounds in deep gyres in the open ocean; larvae marine.


Attributes

Abundance: Common.

Cites: Not listed.

Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).

Depth Range Max: 2 m.

Depth Range Min: 0 m.

Diet: bony fishes; mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs).

Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=2; Southern limit=-2; Western limit=-93; Eastern limit=-90; Latitudinal range=4; Longitudinal range=3.

Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.

Feeding Group: Carnivore.

FishBase Habitat: Demersal.

Global Endemism: Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All Pacific (West + Central + East); TEP non-endemic; All species.

Habitat: Estuary; Freshwater; Rocks; Soft bottom (mud, sand,gravel, beach, estuary & mangrove); Reef and soft bottom; Reef (rock &/or coral).

Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.

IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.

Length Max: 200 cm.

Regional Endemism: Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Island (s) only; Island (s); All species.

Residency: Vagrant.

Salinity: Brackish; Freshwater; Non Marine.

Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;

Names
Scientific source:
Links to other sites


References
  • Arai, T., Marui, M., Miller, M.J. and Tsukamoto, K., 2002., Growth history and inshore migration of the tropical eel Auguilla marmorata in the western Pacific., Marine Biology, 140:309-316.
  • McCosker, J.E., Bustamante, R.H. and Wellington, G.M., 2003., The freshwater eel, Anguilla marmorata, discovered in Galápagos., Noticias de Galápagos, Aug 2003:2-6.
  • Quoy , J. R. C. and Gaimard, J. P., 1824., Description des Poissons. Chapter IX. In: Freycinet, L. de, Voyage autour du Monde...exécuté sur les corvettes de L. M. "L'Uranie" et "La Physicienne," pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820. Paris., Voyage Uranie, Zool., :1-328.
  • Robinet, T., Lecomte-Finiger, R. Escoubeyrou, K. and Feunteun, E., 2003., Tropical eels Anguilla spp. recruiting to Réunion Island in the Indian \., .


Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


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