Eel ID please!

[magpie01]

Hi,

I was fishing off the pier in bray harbour this afternoon and caught this eel. I know the pic isnt great but can anyone help me ID it? the belly was a very light golden brown colour. Thanks

[cd07]

Its a freshwater eel. Hate catching them they`re slimey wrecthes that destroy rigs!

[SirSquiglum]

Hey there Magpie, That picture isnt great as you say, But to me it looks like a FreshWater Eel..

Im no expert on osmoregulation, Explaination below > > >

Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's fluids to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is it keeps the organism's fluids from becoming too diluted or too concentrated. Osmotic pressure is a measure of the tendency of water to move into one solution from another by osmosis!

I did some research awhile back on the marine life that can adapt and survive both in Fresh Water and Sea Water..

Most fish are confined entirely to fresh water (FW) or seawater (SW) and cannot live in or adapt to the other environment. What may be surprising is that the internal salts and organic molecules (solutes) in the blood of all bony fishes are maintained in an "intermediate" concentration (which is actually similar to that in mammals). In other words, fish in salt water may suffer stress because they are living in a medium about 3 times as salty as their blood and therefore must "pump out" extra salt that is ingested. This requires molecular transport proteins (such as the sodium/potassium pump and other ion pumps and channels). FW fish, on the other hand, face the problem of becoming "waterlogged". In other words, the higher concentrations of salts in their tissues and blood cause the fish to gain water by diffusion (also called osmosis). These fish must rid themselves of the extra water and conserve salts. They do this by using molecular transport proteins. In general the control of internal salt and water balance (osmoregulation) requires significant metabolic energy to power it. As most people know, a small number of fish like salmon and eels spend a part of their life in FW and part of their life in SW. These fish literally switchover from the FW metabolism to the SW metabolism, a process that may be metabolically stressful.

I take no credit for the wording or explaination of the above, just simple what i found on the web when i was roaming and it just describes how u may find a Freshwater Eel in Sea Water..

Hope the above helps, A little heavily worded but is worth knowing! ((Knowledge is Power))

[magpie01]

Hey there Magpie, That picture isnt great as you say, But to me it looks like a FreshWater Eel..

Im no expert on osmoregulation, Explaination below > > >

Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's fluids to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is it keeps the organism's fluids from becoming too diluted or too concentrated. Osmotic pressure is a measure of the tendency of water to move into one solution from another by osmosis!

I did some research awhile back on the marine life that can adapt and survive both in Fresh Water and Sea Water..

Most fish are confined entirely to fresh water (FW) or seawater (SW) and cannot live in or adapt to the other environment. What may be surprising is that the internal salts and organic molecules (solutes) in the blood of all bony fishes are maintained in an "intermediate" concentration (which is actually similar to that in mammals). In other words, fish in salt water may suffer stress because they are living in a medium about 3 times as salty as their blood and therefore must "pump out" extra salt that is ingested. This requires molecular transport proteins (such as the sodium/potassium pump and other ion pumps and channels). FW fish, on the other hand, face the problem of becoming "waterlogged". In other words, the higher concentrations of salts in their tissues and blood cause the fish to gain water by diffusion (also called osmosis). These fish must rid themselves of the extra water and conserve salts. They do this by using molecular transport proteins. In general the control of internal salt and water balance (osmoregulation) requires significant metabolic energy to power it. As most people know, a small number of fish like salmon and eels spend a part of their life in FW and part of their life in SW. These fish literally switchover from the FW metabolism to the SW metabolism, a process that may be metabolically stressful.

I take no credit for the wording or explaination of the above, just simple what i found on the web when i was roaming and it just describes how u may find a Freshwater Eel in Sea Water..

Hope the above helps, A little heavily worded but is worth knowing! ((Knowledge is Power))

Hi SirSquiglum,

Thanks for that, great to know. It did cross my mind what a fresh water eel is doing in the sea!

[yngkmd]

dont forget all freshwater european eels migrate to the sargasso sea to breed so its in their nature to survive in salt water

[Creep]

looks like the european eel, lives in fresh water or sea, and The European eel listed as a protected species by CITES i used to eat them very tasty creatures but a lot of work to prepare them skining ect, happy to release them now.

[Creep]

@yngkmd...... How cool is that!!! Every eel around the world migrates back to the sargasso sea, watched it on Blue Planet once thought it was brilliant! mind you if i was an eel, I think i'd head to Spain lay out in the sun with my shades on etc and watch the eeliets swim by

[fishy1987]

silver eel