European eel
Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a species of eel. Their life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be different species. They are critically endangered due to hydroelectric dams, overfishing by fisheries on coasts for human consumption, and parasites.
Wikipedia contributors, European eel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:57:10.020994+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- European 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 anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 |
| 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 |
| Anguilla megastoma Kaup, 1856 | AnguillidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
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=126281 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:DZZN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.