Plate I
Eel
Anguilla anguilla
The eel is a nocturnal bottom-dwelling fish with a snake-like body that lives in the Franconian Saale mainly in calm, structure-rich spots – among riprap and groynes, in roots and deadwood, in quiet pools behind current obstacles, and near weirs and bridges. By day it hides in the substrate, by night it goes foraging. A remarkable trait is its migration: it does not spawn in the river but travels as a silver eel down the Main and Rhine all the way to the distant Sargasso Sea.
How to identify it
The most reliable feature is the continuous fin seam formed by the dorsal, tail and anal fins with no separate tail fin, together with the rounded, snake-like body and the almost scaleless, very slimy skin. It has two small pectoral fins but no pelvic fins.
Look-alikes
Most easily confused with the lamprey, which, however, has a jawless round sucking mouth, seven lateral gill openings and no pectoral fins, whereas the eel has a true jawed mouth, only one gill slit per side and pectoral fins. A lamprey caught by accident is protected year-round and must be released carefully.
Tip
Best fished on warm, dark nights with a bottom rig using lobworm or fish strips, striking promptly on the bite and steering the fish away from cover; raw eel blood is toxic but is rendered harmless by thorough heating when cooking or smoking.
This profile is provided without guarantee; biological details and especially closed season / minimum size must be checked against the current AVBayFiG and your permit before relying on them. Rules & closed seasons.