User:Chipmonkey9/European Eel

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The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. '''They are normally around 45 - 65 cm and rarely reach more than 1 m, but can reach a length of up to 1.33 m in exceptional cases.  In addition, they range from having 110 to 120 vertebrates. '''

While European eels tend to live approximately 15-20 years in the wild, captive specimens have lived over 80 years. 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.

Commercial Fisheries
'''To fill the demand for 11 million pounds of eel that is imported to America every year, the company American Unagi raises eels in Maine to support the sushi industry. They use recirculating pools to raise glass eels taken from the wild for 8 months to 2 years until they mature enough for sale. New eels are quarantined to prevent disease spread and eels are sorted by size every couple weeks to prevent cannibalism. A range of 23°C to 28°C is optimal for growth and protein based pellets and pastes are utilized as food sources for the eels. American Unagi doesn't use any hormones or antibiotics and filters help eliminate waste and ensure the eels have clean water to live in. The exportation of European Eels has been restricted since 2010, yet on average 44% of eel sales in the United States consists of these eels. Eel aquaculture is most prominent in Japan, yet China, Scandinavia, Europe, Australia, Morocco, and Taiwan also participate in this practice. Eel breeding programs initiated by humans have been unsuccessful thus far and therefore the entire industry is dependent on the number of eels spawning in the wild, leaving it unsustainable and vulnerable to the factors causing European Eels to be critically endangered. '''