European Eel

The European Eel is a species of eel, a snake-like fish. They are normally 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) long and rarely reach more than 3 ft (1 m). While their lifespan in the wild has not been determined, captives have lived for over 80 years. A specimen known as 'the Brantevik Eel' lived for 155 years in the well of a family home in Brantevik, a fishing village in southern Sweden. Much of the European Eel's life history was a mystery for centuries, as fishermen never caught anything they could identify as a young eel. Unlike many other migrating fish, eels begin their life cycle in the ocean and spend most of their lives in fresh inland water, returning to the ocean to spawn and die.