Anguillidae

Short-finned eel

Anguilla australis

Growing in still waters then leaving for Pacific spawning grounds

• Brown
• Gray
• Cross-climate
• Temperate
• Tropical
• Estuary
• Globally widespread
• Freshwater fish
• Anguilliform
• Large
• Tropical fish

Thriving across the temperate coastal waterways of Australasia, the short-finned eel is an adaptable catadromous teleost celebrated for its stamina and extensive marine reproductive migration. Its supple, muscular snake-like body is cloaked in smooth skin with dense protective slime, lacking pelvic fins and presenting a continuous dorsal, caudal, and anal fin ribbon. The dorsal surface displays an even, unmarbled coloration of olive-green, dark bronze, or golden-brown that contrasts with an immaculate silvery-white belly, lacking the mottled camouflage of the giant mottled eel. Anatomically, its defining characteristic is its short dorsal fin, whose origin begins almost directly above or slightly forward of the anal fin. Indigenous to southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, it inhabits coastal lagoons, swampy creeks, and lowland rivers. Feeding nocturnally on insects, molluscs, and small fishes, maturing adults transform into silver eels with enlarged eyes, embarking on an epic journey across the Coral Sea to deep ocean trenches near the Solomon Islands to spawn and perish. Maximum recorded total length reaches one hundred and sixty-five centimetres.

Sources: Australian Museum — Short-finned Eel, Anguilla australis