Japanese eel
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Japanese eels can move both forward and backward, even in narrow gaps.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Japanese eel
- Scientific name
- Anguilla japonica
- Japanese name
- ニホンウナギ
- Group
- Freshwater animals
- Order
- Anguilliformes
- Family
- Anguillidae
- Genus
- Anguilla
Where the name “Japanese eel” comes from
While living in rivers, it is called a yellow eel because of its yellowish body color.
栃木県なかがわ水遊園An eel found throughout Japan. It eats other animals; it is born in the sea, grows up in rivers, and goes back down to the sea to lay its eggs.
It hatches in the sea west of the Mariana Islands, and its leaf-shaped young ride the Kuroshio Current northward.
Near Japan the young turn into see-through glass eels and swim up rivers, becoming darker as they grow.
How the Japanese eel lives
During the day, it hides in places such as holes in stone walls or riverbanks. At night, it becomes active and eats small fish and aquatic insects. When it matures, its body turns silvery and takes on a metallic sheen.
東京都建設局岡山市環境学習センターめだかの学校栃木県なかがわ水遊園Basic data
- Diet
- Animals三重県水産研究所
- Range
- Throughout Japanアクアマリンふくしま
- Conservation status in Japan
- Endangered (EN)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020
Where the Japanese eel has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ニホンウナギ
- 简体中文
- 日本鳗鲡
- 繁體中文
- 日本鰻鱺
- 한국어
- 뱀장어
- Español
- Anguila Nipona
- Français
- Anguille du Japon
- Deutsch
- Japanischer Aal
- Português (Brasil)
- Enguia-japonesa
- Italiano
- Anguilla giapponese
- العربية
- أنقليس ياباني
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Sidat jepang
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá chình Nhật Bản
- Русский
- Японский речной угорь
- Türkçe
- Japon yılan balığı
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- アクアマリンふくしま — シラスウナギ（ニホンウナギの稚魚）Checked: 2026-11-03
- 三重県水産研究所 — おさかな図鑑：ウナギChecked: 2026-11-03
- 東京都建設局 — ニホンウナギChecked: 2026-11-05
- 岡山市環境学習センターめだかの学校 — ニホンウナギChecked: 2026-11-06
- 栃木県なかがわ水遊園 — ニホンウナギChecked: 2026-11-06
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
Others in Anguilliformes
MORE TO MEET
