Anguilla bengalensis

The mottled eel^[3] (Anguilla bengalensis), also known as the African mottled eel, the Indian longfin eel, the Indian mottled eel, the long-finned eel or the river eel,^[4] is a demersal, catadromous^[5] eel in the family Anguillidae.^[6] It was described by John McClelland in 1844.^[7] It is a tropical, freshwater eel which is known from East Africa, Bangladesh, Andaman Islands, Mozambique, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and Indonesia and recently from Madagascar.^[8] The eels spend most of their lives in freshwater at a depth range of 3–10 metres, but migrate to the Indian Ocean to breed. Males can reach a maximum total length of 121 centimetres and a maximum weight of 7,000 grams.^[6] The eels feed primarily off of benthic crustaceans, mollusks, finfish and worms.^[9]

Anguilla bengalensis
A. b. bengalensis
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Anguilliformes
Family:	Anguillidae
Genus:	Anguilla
Species:	A. bengalensis
Binomial name
Anguilla bengalensis (J. E. Gray, 1831)
Subspecies
A. b. bengalensis A. b. labiata
Synonyms^[2]
Anguilla nebulosa nebulosa McClelland, 1844 Anguilla elphinstonei Sykes, 1839 Muraena maculata (non Lacepède, 1800) Anguilla bengalensis (non Gray, 1831)

Even though widely distributed, the Mottled eel was listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Redlist as of 2019.^[10] Although the eels are too large for use in aquariums, they are commercial in subsistence fisheries.^[6]

The exact classification of the species was a debate in recent times, where some major fish websites (ex. Fish Base) classified the species under the name A. nebulosa. But according to the IUCN Red List 2015 version, the fish species should be classified as A. bengalensis with some subspecies.^[11]

Subspecies

• Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis sometimes known as the Indian mottled eel.^[12]
• Anguilla bengalensis labiata sometimes known as the African mottled eel.^[13]

References

1. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Jacoby, D.; Gollock, M. (2020). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T61668607A176497430. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T61668607A176497430.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Synonyms of Anguilla nebulosa 2016-03-08 at the Wayback Machine at www.fishbase.org.
3. "Long-finned eel (Anguilla nebulosa) longevity, ageing, and life history".
4. Common names for Anguilla nebulosa 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine at www.fishbase.org.
5. "Mottled eel (Anguilla nebulosa) - Pictures and facts - Fish @ thewebsiteofeverything.com". thewebsiteofeverything.com. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
6. Anguilla nebulosa Archived 2013-04-12 at archive.today at www.fishbase.org.
7. McClelland, J., 1844 (5 July) [ref. 2928] Apodal fishes of Bengal. Calcutta Journal of Natural History v. 5 (no. 18): 151-226, Pls. 5-14.
8. Frost, Winifred E.; IMAMURA K (1957). "First Record of the Elver of the African Eel Anguilla nebulosa labiata Peters". Nature. 179 (4559): 594–5. Bibcode:1957Natur.179..594F. doi:10.1038/179594a0. PMID 13418745. S2CID 4298572.
9. Food items reported for Anguilla nebulosa at www.fishbase.org.
10. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Gollock, M.; Jacoby, D. (2019). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T61668607A96227813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T61668607A96227813.en. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
11. Pike, C.; Crook, V.; Gollock, M.; Jacoby, D. (2019). "Anguilla bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T61668607A96227813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T61668607A96227813.en. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
12. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis in FishBase. 05 2006 version.
13. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Anguilla bengalensis labiata in FishBase. 05 2006 version.