So, time passed until the zoologist and eel breeder Giovanni Grassi finally settled the matter in 1896. Max Schultze, a German biologist, went so far as to say regarding Darwin’s Theory of Evolution: “all the important questions in my field have been resolved, except that question of the eel.”Īs an adolescent Sigmund Freud was dissecting eels in search of gonads and assured that he found them, but nobody paid too much attention to him. In the English countryside, people thought eels came into life when a horse’s tail hairs fell into the water. That they were born from the sea foam, that they rubbed against the rocks. Therefore, he concluded the eels’ spontaneous generation from the mud.īefore him, the ancient Egyptians believed that the sun that warmed the Nile made them appear. No one could find their genital organs, nor could they be seen copulating or laying eggs. What Aristotle did not know was how they reproduced. After all, eels have been food for humans for thousands of years. He already knew an eel is a fish with a long and thin body and that there are saltwater and freshwater eel species. CATAMARAN Party in Montego Bay with Dressel Divers –Īristotle himself was perplexed about the origin of the different species of eel.CATAMARAN Wedding in Montego Bay with Dressel Divers –.MANGROVE SAFARI Kayak & Snorkeling Excursion –.CATAMARAN Tour in Montego Bay with Dressel Divers –.Puerto Vallarta WHALE WATCHING Excursión –.DIVE INSTRUCTOR COURSES (IDC College) –.DIVEMASTER COURSES (PADI GO PRO Academy) –.REFRESHER, ADVANCED & SPECIALTY COURSES.After becoming fully mature, they stay in their freshwater habitats until they return to the seas to breed. They then reach their 3rd stage, the elver as young eels are called, and begin moving further upstream. This stage travels from saltwater to freshwater, though some remain in the ocean for their entire lives. They drift about in the sea, eating marine snow for nourishment until they mature into glass eels. The larval stage of the eel, known as leptocephali, is transparent and flat. They have a unique life cycle, going through four distinct stages, from an embryo to an adult. All of them reproduce, give birth, and finally die. What scientists have uncovered so far indicates that they mate at the last phase of their lives by forgoing eating altogether and perhaps developing reproductive organs during this period.Įels worldwide appear to have specific breeding sites, those from both America and Europe migrating to the Sargasso Sea, Japanese eels to the Suruga seamount, South African eels towards the north of Madagascar in the depths of the Indian Ocean, and New Zealand longfin eels near the nation of Tonga. The reproduction of the eel has remained an enigma, with details about their breeding staying unknown to this day. It even protects them from several underwater organisms like bacteria. Most of them even have mucus coating on their body, helping them move quickly through the rough sea terrain.While eels have gills like other fish, they can breathe out of water for hours with the help of their thick skin, which can hold water to prevent them from drying out.Some, like the moray eels, come in different colors, often matching with their surroundings, helping them camouflage well and hide from predators.They have sharp teeth, allowing them to bite and hold on to prey.The backbone of these eels is made up of a hundred vertebrae.Some will remain hidden and attack prey that passes by, while others chase down and capture their quarry. While resting, they burrow in the sand or mud on the ocean floor or hide in rocky crevices.As a result, they can swim backward by simply reversing the direction of the wave. Eels swim in a serpentine manner, creating waves as they move.They are nocturnal species, with a secretive demeanor.
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