#2081 · 🐟 fish
European Eel
🇳🇱 Paling ·Anguilla anguilla
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Mattia · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Frédéric ANDRE · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
- 4. © Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Daniel PAVON · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Nikita Vasiliuk · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 9. © helenft12 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © João Pedro Silva · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. 6 ft), and rarely reach more than 1 m (3 ft 3 in). While captive specimens have lived over 85 years, the species' lifespan in the wild has not been determined.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 119 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #10 most seen of the fish in NL.
- 3,593 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
- Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- European Eel
- Nederlands
- Paling
- scientific name
- Anguilla anguilla
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Anguilliformes
- family
- Anguillidae
- IUCN Red List
- CR · critically endangered
- sightings in NL
- 119
- sightings in Europe
- 2,951
- sightings worldwide
- 3,593
- GBIF records in NL
- 66,601
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: ernstig bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Anguillidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 94105, Wikidata Q26387, GBIF 5212973, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.