Where does the American eel live?
American eels are found throughout the Bay watershed, from creeks and ponds to the deep, swift channels of the Bay. Adults usually live in fresh to brackish rivers and streams, but some remain in the Bay’s shallow waters. What does the American eel eat? American eels feed at night on a variety of prey, including: • Worms • Small fishes • Macoma clams and other mollusks, whose siphons sticking out of the sediment look like worms • Crustaceans, such as soft-shelled crabs What is the life cycle of the American eel? American eels are the only catadromous fish in the Bay, meaning that they live in fresh water and move to the ocean to spawn. • In October, sexually mature eels swim from streams and rivers down the Bay and out to the Sargasso Sea, an area of the Atlantic Ocean west of the Bahamas. In January, the eels spawn there, then die. • Tiny eel larvae drift in the ocean for about nine to 12 months, during which time they transform from larvae to the “glass eel” stage. Ocean currents car
