Anguilla japonica  Temminck & Schlegel, 1846

Japanese eel
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Anguilla japonica
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Anguillidae (Freshwater eels)
Etymology: Anguilla: Latin, anguilla, .-ae = eel (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Temminck, Schlegel.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; catadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - 400 m (Ref. 6898).   Subtropical; 4°C - 27°C (Ref. 12468); 46°N - 15°N, 105°E - 170°E

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9828); common length : 40.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 35840); max. published weight: 1.9 kg (Ref. 82795)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Vertebrae: 114 - 118. Plain-colored.

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia: Japan to the East China Sea, Taiwan, Korea, China and northern Philippines. Spawning grounds of this species are presumed to be in the western Mariana Islands, at a salinity front near 15°N and 140°E (Ref. 54488). Most expensive food fish in Japan. Introduced elsewhere.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Spawning occurs in the sea; small eels ascend the rivers in schools; develop and grow in freshwater. The species may crawl over land at night from one place to another (Ref. 5258, 11230). Feeds on crustaceans, insects and fish (Ref. 5258). Maximum weight given (1889 g) has a maximum length of 100.8 cm TL in Ref. 82795. Utilized fresh, smoked, canned and frozen; eaten steamed, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino, 1984. The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Not Evaluated 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquaculture: commercial
FAO(Aquaculture: production, species profile; fisheries: production, species profile; publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00071 (-0.11741 - 0.11883), b=3.18 (3.11 - 3.26), based on LWR estimates for species & genus-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.6   ±0.51 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.07).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (71 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.