Appearance

The European eel has a serpent-like head, with a rounded snout and wide protruding eyes, its body is very long and narrow with a continuous dorsal fin, along with a continuous anal and tail-fin. The colour of the European eel varies dramatically depending on the age of the eel, so much so that younger European eels were believed to be a different species entirely. Generally adult European eels are brown or olive green, although some adults can also be silver, hence why they are also known as silver eels. The European eel has no scales and instead has a covering of slime.

European eels are currently critically endangered due to overfishing, as such if caught they should be released by law.

The european eel is a critically endangered species. It should only be caught in freshwaters and ALWAYS returned. Anglers who have caught and not released european eels back into the ocean are at risk of a £50,000 fine, which has been handed out in the past.

We cover in detail how to catch european eel in our coarse fishing section, you can find more information here.