Giant mottled eel

Anguilla marmorata

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–1 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The giant mottled eel, also known as the marbled eel, is a species of tropical anguillid eel that is found in the Indo-Pacific and adjacent freshwater habitats.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 39 records
February: 45 records
March: 62 records
April: 68 records
May: 90 records
June: 67 records
July: 76 records
August: 97 records
September: 109 records
October: 118 records
November: 78 records
December: 41 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–1 m · Deepest record: 300 m

0–10 m: 111 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C

18–20 °C: 3 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 13 records
24–26 °C: 6 records
26–28 °C: 30 records
28–30 °C: 126 records

Photos

(c) Yung-Lun Lin, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) karliatje, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jennie Pistevos, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Giant mottled eel, Giant Long-finned Eel, giant mottled eel, Madagascar Eel, marbled eel

Names in 8 more languages

Spanish: Anguila Malgache, anguilla moteada gigante
Filipino: Igat
French: Anguille, Anguille marbrée, Congre, Anguille marbrée, grande anguille marbrée
Indonesian: Sidat kembang
Japanese: Ounagi, オオウナギ, 大鰻
Korean: 무태장어
Thai: Pla Lai Yak, ปลาเอี่ยนหู
Simplified Chinese: 土龍, 烏耳鰻, 花鰻, 花鰻鱺, 花鳗鲡, 鱸鰻, 黑鰻

Other scientific names: Anguilla fidjiensis, Anguilla hildebrandti, Anguilla johannae, Anguilla labrosa, Anguilla marmolata, Anguilla mauritiana, Muraena manillensis

Similar species

Black fin eel
Anguilla bicolor
Celebes Longfin Eel
Anguilla celebesensis

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).
2,142 open-data records from 1824 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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