Australian shortfinned eel

Anguilla australis

Fish
IUCN: Near threatened

Usual depth0–1 m
Water temperature13–28 °C
Best monthsSeptember
How commonCommon

About this species

The short-finned eel, also known as the shortfin eel, is one of the 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It is native to the lakes, dams and coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, and much of the South Pacific, including New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Tahiti, and Fiji.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Short-finned eel”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 29 records
February: 26 records
March: 29 records
April: 31 records
May: 21 records
June: 20 records
July: 6 records
August: 33 records
September: 75 records
October: 30 records
November: 38 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–1 m · Deepest record: 490 m

0–10 m: 79 records
10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–28 °C

12–14 °C: 3 records
14–16 °C: 27 records
16–18 °C: 7 records
18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 14 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Australian shortfinned eel, Australian short-finned eel, Short-finned eel, river eel, shortfin eel, short-finned eel, shortfinned eel, shortfinned freshwater eel, silver eel

Names in 5 more languages

German: Australischer Aal, Kurzflossen-Aal, Südlicher Aal
Spanish: anguila australiana
French: Anguille australe, Anguille d'Australie
Japanese: オーストラリアウナギ
Simplified Chinese: 澳洲鰻鱺, 黑鰻

Other scientific names: Angguilla australis, Anguilla austrata, Anguilla schmidtii, Muraena australis

Similar species

Australian Longfin Eel
Anguilla reinhardtii
Black fin eel
Anguilla bicolor
Giant mottled eel
Anguilla marmorata
New Zealand longfin eel
Anguilla dieffenbachii
Japanese eel
Anguilla japonica
African longfin eel
Anguilla mossambica

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
14,044 open-data records from 1841 to 2019.

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