You want to know about Eels? by Shaev7 2011/07/20 03:03
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
Superorder: Elopomorpha
Order: Anguilliformes
Berg, 1940
Suborders
Anguilloidei
Congroidei
Nemichthyoidei
Synaphobranchoidei
Eels (Anguilliformes;
pronounced /wlfrmiz/)
are an order of fish, which
consists of four suborders, 19
families, 110 genera and
approximately 800 species. Most
eels are predators. The term "eel"
is also used for some other
similarly shaped fish, such as
electric eels and spiny eels, but
these are not members of the
Anguilliformes order.
Description
Eels are elongated fish, ranging
in length from 5 centimetres
(2.0 in) in the one-jawed eel
( Monognathus ahlstromi) to 4
metres (13 ft) in the slender
giant moray.[2] Adults range in
weight from 30 grams to well
over 25 kilograms. They possess
no pelvic fins, and many species
also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal
and anal fins are fused with the
caudal or tail fin, forming a single
ribbon running along much of
the length of the animal.[1] Most
eels live in the shallow waters of
the ocean and burrow into sand,
mud, among rocks, or in cracks
found in coral reefs. A majority of
eel species are nocturnal, and
thus are rarely seen. Sometimes,
they are seen living together in
holes, or "eel pits". Some species
of eels also live in deeper water
on the continental shelves and
over the slopes deep as 4,000
metres (13,000 ft). Only members
of the Anguillidae family regularly
inhabit fresh water, but they too
return to the sea to breed. [3]
Eels begin life as flat and
transparent larvae, or
leptocephali. Eel larvae drift in the
surface waters of the sea feeding
on marine snow, small particles
that float in the water. Eel larvae
then metamorphose into glass
eels and then become elvers
before finally seeking out their
juvenile and adult habitats.[2]
Classification
A moray eel.
Juvenile American eels
Garden eels
This classification follows
FishBase in dividing the eels into
fifteen families. Additional
families that are included in
other classifications (notably ITIS
and Systema Naturae 2000) are
noted below the family with
which they are synomized in the
Fish Base system.
The origin of the fresh water
species has been problematic.
Genomic studies indicate that
they are a monophyletic group
which originated among the
deep-sea eels
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
Superorder: Elopomorpha
Order: Anguilliformes
Berg, 1940
Suborders
Anguilloidei
Congroidei
Nemichthyoidei
Synaphobranchoidei
Eels (Anguilliformes;
pronounced /wlfrmiz/)
are an order of fish, which
consists of four suborders, 19
families, 110 genera and
approximately 800 species. Most
eels are predators. The term "eel"
is also used for some other
similarly shaped fish, such as
electric eels and spiny eels, but
these are not members of the
Anguilliformes order.
Description
Eels are elongated fish, ranging
in length from 5 centimetres
(2.0 in) in the one-jawed eel
( Monognathus ahlstromi) to 4
metres (13 ft) in the slender
giant moray.[2] Adults range in
weight from 30 grams to well
over 25 kilograms. They possess
no pelvic fins, and many species
also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal
and anal fins are fused with the
caudal or tail fin, forming a single
ribbon running along much of
the length of the animal.[1] Most
eels live in the shallow waters of
the ocean and burrow into sand,
mud, among rocks, or in cracks
found in coral reefs. A majority of
eel species are nocturnal, and
thus are rarely seen. Sometimes,
they are seen living together in
holes, or "eel pits". Some species
of eels also live in deeper water
on the continental shelves and
over the slopes deep as 4,000
metres (13,000 ft). Only members
of the Anguillidae family regularly
inhabit fresh water, but they too
return to the sea to breed. [3]
Eels begin life as flat and
transparent larvae, or
leptocephali. Eel larvae drift in the
surface waters of the sea feeding
on marine snow, small particles
that float in the water. Eel larvae
then metamorphose into glass
eels and then become elvers
before finally seeking out their
juvenile and adult habitats.[2]
Classification
A moray eel.
Juvenile American eels
Garden eels
This classification follows
FishBase in dividing the eels into
fifteen families. Additional
families that are included in
other classifications (notably ITIS
and Systema Naturae 2000) are
noted below the family with
which they are synomized in the
Fish Base system.
The origin of the fresh water
species has been problematic.
Genomic studies indicate that
they are a monophyletic group
which originated among the
deep-sea eels
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