Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur 1817) — American Eel

Justification: UF 183031 (1, 1120 mm TL), freshwater pond, Lower Love Estate, October 1972; USNM 106638 (1, 260 mm TL), Fairplain Stream, H. A. Beatty, 1937; additional St. Croix specimens [not examined] at ZMUC.

Distribution: Smith (1989a) WA (BD, FL, GOM, BA, GA, VI, LA, WC, nSA).

Remarks: Under the name Anguilla bostonensis, Beatty (1944:178) stated "during the winter months the larval eel, which is about two inches in length, can be seen migrating upstream in Fairplain, Concordia and Caledonia streams." In a chapter titled "The Night of the Eel," Seaman (1973) described his excitement as a boy when fishing for eels at Castle Burk pool.

This catadromous and mostly nocturnal eel has a remarkable life history, see Smith (1989a) for a detailed description. It spends the majority of its adult life in fresh water as a "yellow eel," which can last 4‒20 years. At the end of that stage it stops feeding and begins an irreversible transformation (more pronounced in males) that leads to sexual maturation. It then moves out to sea and migrates to an imprecisely known area south of Bermuda where spawning occurs.