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Anguilla dieffenbachii Gray, 1842

New Zealand longfin eel
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Anguilla dieffenbachii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Anguilla dieffenbachii (New Zealand longfin eel)
Anguilla dieffenbachii
Picture by Bursell, J.J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Anguilliformes (Eels and morays) > Anguillidae (Freshwater eels)
Etymology: Anguilla: Latin, anguilla, .-ae = eel (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Dr Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach (1811–1855) was a German physician, naturalist, explorer, linguist and writer. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Gray.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; catadromous (Ref. 51243). Subtropical; 34°S - 47°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southwest Pacific: endemic to New Zealand.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 80 - ? cm
Max length : 185 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44724); 156.0 cm TL (female); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9258); common length :100 cm TL (female); max. published weight: 25.0 kg (Ref. 11115)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Commonly found in lakes and rivers (Ref. 9258). Inhabits stony rivers (Ref. 9072). Migrates to the sea to breed. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Marketed fresh, smoked and frozen; eaten fried and broiled (Ref. 9988). Reports of reaching up to 2 meters and 50 kilograms are rare and more common historically; in recent times, only a few exceed 120 cm TL (Ref. 82796).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Armitage, R.O., D.A. Payne, G.J. Lockley, H.M. Currie, R.L. Colban, B.G. Lamb and L.J. Paul (eds.), 1994. Guide book to New Zealand commercial fish species. Revised edition. New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, Wellington, New Zealand, 216 p. (Ref. 9258)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Endangered (EN) (A2bd); Date assessed: 08 November 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: experimental
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 10.6 - 18.3, mean 15.1 °C (based on 138 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00093 (0.00076 - 0.00115), b=3.20 (3.15 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Tmax=60; tm=10-48 years based on age-length relationship.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.