Public Works and Environmental Services

CONTACT INFORMATION: Our administrative offices are open 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Mon - Fri
703-324-5500 TTY 711
12000 Government Center Parkway
Suite 449, Fairfax, Va 22035
Shannon Curtis
Chief, Watershed Assessment Branch

Freshwater Eel - Family Anguillidae

Eel-like/Wormlike
Eel-like/Wormlike

American Eel

American Eel - Anguilla rostrata

Scientific Name: Anguilla rostrata
Fairfax County Native: Yes
Size: 40 inches
Diet: Fish, insects and invertebrates
Distribution sampling sites: Map

The American eel is a catadromous fish (fish that live in fresh water and breed in the ocean) that spends its adult life in the streams and rivers of the county and then travels to the Sargasso Sea to breed. Their distribution in the county is restricted by Great Falls on the Potomac River and by the reservoir dam on the Occoquan River.


References
Jenkins, R. E., N. M. Burkhead, 1994, Freshwater Fishes of Virginia,1079 pgs., American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD

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