Anguilla anguilla, a fish of the eel family Eel family. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, North Africa, Morocco, Scandinavia and other seas. Due to high value, which leads to overfishing, so natural resources are severely depleted, and since the early 1980s, the european eel population has declined by about 90% and is currently listed in the Cites Appendix of the Washington Convention: II Protected Animals.
Morphological characteristics
The body is slender, the skin is sticky and slippery, brown, black or olive-green, the abdomen is yellow, and some adults may be silvery, up to 1 meter long. The body is slender, the lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw; the scales hide under the skin of the fish; the back of the adult fish is black and gray-green, and the abdomen is silver.
Characteristics of life
Native to the Atlantic Ocean, the European eel inhabits rivers, estuaries and lagoons, and prefers to burrow and live as a meat eater who feeds on shrimp, crabs, shellfish and sea insects. In autumn, mature eels will begin a long spawning migration, descending from rivers to lay eggs in the Sargasso Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, where their fertilized eggs will be found in the spring and early summer.
Population status
13 March 2009 The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) announced on 13 March that the 174 States parties to the Convention will implement new regulatory measures for the European Eel. All future European eel exports will require an export licence, which can only be issued if scientists in the exporting country confirm that the current level of trade does not pose a threat to the survival of the European eel and that the population of the European eel meets normal standards. Importing countries need to ensure that all imported European eels are accompanied by an export license.
The willow-leafed juveniles of the European eel are transparent like willow leaves
delicacies
The nutritional content of eels is much higher than that of sea bass, chicken, beef, etc., and the content of vitamins, minerals and trace elements is incomparable to that of land animals. Scientific studies have shown that eels are one of the fish with the highest EPA and DHA, which can not only reduce blood lipids, anti-arteriosclerosis, anti-thrombosis, but also replenish the necessary nutrients to the brain.