Viviparous eelpout

D-Aalmutter; GB-Eelpout; DK-Ålekvabbe; PL-Węgorzyca; LT-Paprastoji gyvavedė vėgėlė; LV-Lucītis; EST-Emakala; RU-Европейская бельдюга; FIN-Kivinilkka; S-Tånglake, ålkusa

Characters

1) Mouth with thick lips.
2) No prominent caudal fin (continous fin fold formed by dorsal, caudal and anal fins).
3) Pelvic fins small, almost threadlike.
●) Body colouration brownish to yellowish; back and flanks with pattern of stripes and spots.
Often 30 to 40 cm, maximum up to 50 cm length.

Similar species

Snake blenny - caudal fin pointed; slender, body significantly more elongated.

Butterfish - caudal fin rounded and separated from dorsal and anal fins, black eye-spots on back.

Biology

Lives bottom orientated in seagrass or areas of shallow waters grown with algae; occurs also in intertidal pools and brackish waters. Reaches sexual maturity with 2 to 3 years. After a gestation period of 4 months, 30 to 400 fully developed young are born.

Diet

Feeds on different bottom-living invertebrates; bigger specimen also feed on smaller fish.

Importance

Food fish, but scarcely of commercial importance.

Endangerment

Reacts sensitive to low oxigen content in water; therefore endangered by over-fertilization and climate warming.