African longfin eel
Anguilla mossambica (Peters, 1852)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The African longfin eel (Anguilla mossambica), also known simply as the longfin eel, is an eel in the family Anguillidae. It was described by Wilhelm Peters in 1852, originally under the genus Muraena. It is a tropical eel known from freshwaters in southern Kenya, Cape Agulhas, Madagascar, and New Caledonia. The eels spend most of their lives in freshwaters far inland, but migrate to the Western Indian Ocean to breed. Males can reach a maximum total length of 150 centimetres; females can reach a maximum standard length of 120 centimetres and a maximum weight of 5,000 grams. The eels can live for about 20 years. Juveniles and adults are known to feed off of carcasses, crabs, and bony fish.
Wikipedia contributors, African longfin eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:30:33.260279+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anguilla mossambica (Peters, 1852)
- Name authority
- (Peters, 1852)
- Common name
- African longfin eel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Anguillidae
- Genus
- Anguilla
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnguilliformes
- familyAnguillidae Rafinesque, 1810
- genusAnguilla Schrank, 1798
- speciesAnguilla mossambica (Peters, 1852)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anguilla. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Anguilla celebesensis Kaup, 1856 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla labiata (Peters, 1852) | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla obscura Günther, 1872 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla luzonensis Watanabe, Aoyama & Tsukamoto, 2009 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla bicolor McClelland, 1844 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla malgumora Kaup, 1856 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla borneensis Popta, 1924 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japanese eelAnguilla japonica Temminck & Schlegel, 1846 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| European eelAnguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla reinhardtii Steindachner, 1867 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anguilla interioris Whitley, 1938 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| giant mottled eelAnguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Muraena mossambica Peters, 1852 Peters, 1852 | synonym |
| Anguilla delalandi Kaup, 1856 Kaup, 1856 | synonym |
| Anguilla capensis Kaup, 1859 Kaup, 1859 | synonym |
| Anguilla delalandii Kaup, 1856 Kaup, 1856 | synonym |
| Tribranchus anguillaris Peters, 1846 Peters, 1846 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=217458 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:66R6N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.