

The largest species, the slender giant moray eel, can grow to 13 feet in length.A specimen known as “the Brantevik Eel ” lived for 155 years in the well of a family home in Brantevik, a fishing village in southern Sweden. While the species’ lifespan in the wild has not been determined, captive specimens have lived over 80 years.In 1997, Innovatie Netwerk in the Netherlands initiated a project where they attempted to get European eels to breed in captivity.Several projects have been started to prevent them from becoming endangered.Since the 1970s, the number of eels reaching Europe is thought to have declined by around 90% (possibly even 98%).The European eel is a critically endangered species.The European eel is normally around 60–80 cm (2.0–2.6 ft) and rarely reach more than 1 m (3 ft 3 in), but can reach a length of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in exceptional cases.As marine animals and unlike reptiles, eels breathe underwater with their gills and fins, and therefore cannot survive outside of water.Eels live in both saltwater and freshwater.The eel’s backbone is made up of over 100 vertebrae which makes it very flexible.They have long, narrow bodies with long dorsal and anal fins.Even though the eel looks like a snake it is really a fish.

Eels belong to the order Anguilliformes (aka cousin of the fish).Keep reading for more interesting facts about eels. Eel is a delicacy in some cultures, but its blood is toxic, so it needs to be cooked thoroughly.

Despite its name, the electric eel is not an eel but a knife fish. Freshwater eels are known to travel as far as 4,000 miles to breed. There are over 800 different species of eel.
DOES A SNAKE HAVE A BACKBONE DOWNLOAD

This is where things get interesting, you would think a human has more bones than most snake species, but this is not true.Ī human has 206 bones in the entire body, whereas 95% of snake species have more than 400 bones within their body, these bones are much more flexible and durable than human bones also.
