Anguilla australis, Short-finned eel : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

You can sponsor this page

Anguilla australis Richardson, 1841

Short-finned eel
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Anguilla australis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Anguilla australis (Short-finned eel)
Anguilla australis
Picture by McDowall, R.M.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Anguillidae (Freshwater eels)
Etymology: Anguilla: Latin, anguilla, .-ae = eel (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Richardson.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; catadromous (Ref. 9258); depth range 0 - 3000 m (Ref. 86942). Subtropical; 18°S - 47°S, 140°E - 168°E

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

Southwest Pacific: east coast of Australia and New Zealand, extending north to New Caledonia. Museum records from Fiji and Tahiti are doubtful. Australian and New Zealand forms sometimes recognized as subspecies. Most easily confused with Anguilla obscura and the surest way of distinguishing them is to count the vertebrae. Reported from Western and American Samoa (Ref. 592).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 130 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); 106.5 cm TL (female); common length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9258); common length :65 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 7.5 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 32 years (Ref. 6390)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in streams, lakes and swamps. More likely inhabits slow flowing streams or still waters (Ref. 26509). Feeds on fishes, crustaceans, mollusks, worms, aquatic plants, and terrestrial and aquatic insects. This species does not breed outside its Pacific spawning ground. Migrates to the sea to breed (Ref. 9258). Maximum length for female eel taken from Ref. 6390. Migrating females in Lake Ellesmere (Canterbury, New Zealand) were reported to be in the range of 48.3 to 102.4 cm, larger than for males 33.8 to 55.4 cm (Ref. 44724). Despite its slimy appearance, its flesh is of excellent quality, considered a delicacy in many countries; meat suitable for smoking (Ref. 33839).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1989. Freshwater fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. (Ref. 5259)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Near Threatened (NT) ; Date assessed: 06 November 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 4.3 - 9.1, mean 5.3 °C (based on 57 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00068 (0.00054 - 0.00085), b=3.16 (3.11 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=8-30; Fec=3,000,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (78 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.