Fish of the river eel: varieties, origin and way of life

River eel is considered a delicacy. Especially in a smoked form. However, in some areas it is not eaten, because it looks like a snake.

Yes, the river eel really looks unappetizing, so few people will dare to approach what is wriggling in the water, and even take it in hand. But in vain. After all, this fish has a valuable composition, which includes fat and proteins, vitamins and minerals.

Appearance

A long narrow body, compressed at the rear towards the tail, really gives the eel its resemblance to a snake. Like all fish, it is covered with mucus, and therefore quite slippery, keeping it in your hands is not so easy. River fish eel has fins: thoracic, dorsal, caudal and anal. And the last three are connected in one and stretch along the entire length of its back. Also, its peculiarity is the flattened head, which can not be distinguished from the body by its outward appearance. On both sides of the mouth are small eyes, inside it are tiny sharp teeth, which very much help this predator to hunt. River acne is of different colors. It depends on the water body in which it lives, and also on the degree of its maturity. Young individuals are dark green or dark brown with a black back, yellow sides and white belly. Adults are much darker. The back is black or dark brown, the sides grayish white, the belly white. With age, the river eel acquires a metallic luster.

Where does he live

His habitat is wide. It can be found in almost all the reservoirs of the European part of Russia. In addition, he lives in the basins of the Baltic Sea, sometimes the Azov, Black, White and Barents. In Ukraine, the river eel chooses the Danube, the Southern Bug, the Danube basin. This river inhabitant does not require any special conditions for his dwelling. Maybe that's why some of its individuals manage to reach the age of twenty-five. On average, their life expectancy is 9-15 years. How to spend their eel?

Varieties and lifestyle of fish

Being under water for such a time is probably boring. But not for fish. After all, they are engaged in constant food production. And what does the eel eat on the river? Being a predator, it eats fish, newts, frogs, larvae, snails, crayfish, worms. He hunts in the dark. And his assistant is not a sight, but an excellent sense of smell. With its help, the river eel can smell the prey at a distance of up to 10 meters. The activity of acne is manifested only in warm water. Lowering its temperature to 9-11 degrees is a signal for them, that it's time to indulge in anabiosis. In this state, they stay until the spring, until again there is a warming.

During the danger these fish burrow into the muddy bottom, so avoid stony surfaces. During the day they hide between snags, in thickets and other shelters, and at night they can approach the shore. If the reservoir dries up, they can live for a long time in a moist soil. Sometimes eels move by land, a condition for this possibility is wet grass or soil.

Strange appearance

At the time of Aristotle, people could not explain where the eels came from. Catch eel with caviar or milk or see its fry no one succeeded. Therefore, his origin was shrouded in mystery. In their conclusions, people have reached the point that they considered the eel to be a product of silt. Others explained this phenomenon by the fact that it appears from other fish or even worms. But in our time it is known that eels swim away to spawn in the Atlantic Ocean to the place where there are many sargasso algae. After the eggs are laid, usually in April or May, these fish die. Transparent, flat larvae appear at the end of winter. In this image, the eel spends three years. All this time he is drifting off the coast of America or Western Europe. After acquiring his habitual appearance, the eel goes to a permanent residence in fresh water. There are several varieties of this fish with its own habits and characteristics.

Dangerous acquaintance

In addition to a completely harmless European or common eel, his electric companion lives in nature. Although outwardly they are similar, they are not relatives. Electric eel during hunting kills small fish, releasing a charge of current, the power of which reaches 600 V. This can be enough to kill even a person. This eel is a large fish. In length it reaches a meter 1.5, and weighs 40 kilograms. In addition to hunting, with the help of electric charge, the eel protects itself from enemies. The radius of its impact is 3 meters. Divers better keep away from this fish, because it attacks without warning. Its place of residence was the rivers of South America.

Big and beautiful

This fish has a relative in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a sea eel. The structure of his body, he is very similar to his brother and has the same elongated body and flattened head. However, the size considerably exceeds the river eel. Also differs coloration. In the ocean live several species of sea eel. His skin is painted gray or brown, but there are spotted or striped individuals. This fish is delicious, fishermen catch it with pleasure. Particularly pleased that the trophy is of considerable size.

Plant or not

The original among his relatives is the spotted garden eel. It is named because of its coloring, and also because all his life these fish "stand", half leaning out of the water. Such a flock is like a garden. When the danger arises, they dive into their sandy holes, and then protrude back. They are rocking in the water column for a reason. Masking under the stalks of plants, these fish wait for their prey, and then deftly grab their big mouth. As food they eat crustaceans, mollusks, small fishes. There is this type of eel in the Red Sea, near Madagascar, near East Africa.

Expensive and tasty

Japanese river eel differs from the ordinary one in that it can live in fresh water bodies and in the sea. And at night even gets out on land. Its place of habitation is Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, the Philippines. This eel glows in the dark, and eats insects, fish and crustaceans. It is used for cooking, as well as in Chinese traditional medicine. In Japanese cuisine, this fish is the most expensive, so it is caught in very large quantities, and it is even under the special supervision of Greenpeace.

Do not be afraid of the appearance of this fish. She has nothing to do with snakes. So feel free to try this delicacy.