Speckled Longfin Eel

Description:

The "speckled longfin eel" is one of 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It's an elongated fish with a long, cylindrical body with dorsal, tail and anal fins, all forming one long fin. They are the largest freshwater eels in Australia, and females grow much larger than males. Longfin eels can grow to 1.6 metres and 22 kg (although generally to 1 metre) for females, while males are much smaller at 650 mm and 600 g. Landlocked eels have been reported to grow to 3 metres (10 feet). They can also live extremely long lives — maybe even 100 years.

Habitat:

It can be found in many freshwater areas, including creeks, streams, rivers, swamps, dams, lagoons, and lakes although generally more often in rivers than lakes. This eel was spotted at the lake on the University of Queensland Campus, Brisbane.

Notes:

Well I've learned yet another thing today. An eel is an elongated fish... so it goes in the 'fish' category, not into the 'other' category. Glad that's sorted. Also, check out the VIDEO. These eels would have come straight out of the Brisbane River. The University lake was flooded during the Brisbane Flood of 2011, and this video was taken only a few weeks later. I was so happy to see just one eel today, but to have seen so many all at once would have been truly amazing. http://www.youtube.com/v/ceitfki8J38