Brown Eel
Anguilla obscura
- Usual depth1–22 m
- Water temperature10–29 °C
- Best monthsMay
- How commonRare
About this species
The Pacific shortfinned eel, also known as the Pacific shortfinned freshwater eel, the short-finned eel, and the South Pacific eel, is an eel in the family Anguillidae. It was described by Albert Günther in 1871. It is a tropical, freshwater eel which is known from western New Guinea, Queensland, Australia, the Society Islands, and possibly South Africa. The eels spend most of their lives in freshwater, but migrate to the Pacific Ocean to breed. Males can reach a maximum total length of 110 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of around 60 cm. The Pacific shortfinned eel is most similar to Anguilla australis, and Anguilla bicolor, but can be distinguished by the number of vertebrae.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Pacific shortfinned 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: 0 records
- February: 5 records
- March: 0 records
- April: 4 records
- May: 16 records
- June: 4 records
- July: 4 records
- August: 8 records
- September: 5 records
- October: 3 records
- November: 5 records
- December: 2 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–22 m · Deepest record: 22 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 10–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Brown Eel, Pacific Shortfin Eel, Pacific shortfinned eel, Pacific Short-finned Eel, Pacific shortfinned freshwater eel, shortfinned eel, Short-finned Eel, South Pacific Eel
Names in 4 more languages
- Spanish
- Anguila Oscura
- French
- Anguille de Vase, Anguille de vase, Anguille sombre, Anguille Sombre
- Japanese
- ポリネシアショートフィンウナギ
- Simplified Chinese
- 灰鰻鱺
Similar species
- Australian shortfinned eel
Anguilla australis
- Australian Longfin Eel
Anguilla reinhardtii
Black fin eelAnguilla bicolor
Giant mottled eelAnguilla marmorata
- New Zealand longfin eel
Anguilla dieffenbachii
- Japanese eel
Anguilla japonica
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).
- 202 open-data records from 1962 to 2018.
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