Have you ever come across one, or tried to catch one to no avail? Patience, the expression "spinning like an eel" is perfectly suited to this bony fish, whose slimy, scale-less body both repels and captivates us. Agile and elusive, the European eel has become a symbol of deviousness and deception through the various expressions and quotations about it. An unflattering symbol, yet the eel never ceases to inspire and fascinate us with its mysteries and legends...
Living in freshwater, the eel is a migratory fish that seeks to return to the sea to reproduce, with the exception of a few individuals that remain in freshwater and can live up to 50 years. In fact, its stay in freshwater can last around twenty years, before its metabolism gradually transforms, sounding the alarm that it is time to move on to saltier waters. After a fabulous journey of over 6,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean, the eel will reach the Sargasso Sea, where it will reproduce and end its days. From there, the spawning begins, with a production of 1.3 to 1.5 million oocytes! But the birth of eels remains a mystery, as no one has yet succeeded in observing sexually mature adults at sea, or fertilised eggs for that matter. As soon as it is born, the eel, in its larval stage, will let itself be carried by the currents to cross the ocean, a journey that can last 1 to 2 years, feeding on animal plankton with its very long teeth, with the aim of reaching the continental slopes.
The eel seems very brave, to say the least, yet it remains shy and discreet, hiding from the light under rocks and only active at night. This secrecy is explained by a legend from Lausanne, which tells how eels once infested Lake Geneva terribly and frightened the population. As a result, a bishop named Guillaume de Champvent summoned them to appear before his court, but none came... The bishop was therefore obliged to herd them to a spot on the lake, from where they dared not leave again. Those days seem to be over, as the eel is now rarely found in Lake Geneva due to the destruction of its habitat and its culinary success in certain countries. In fact, the eel is prey to a lucrative international trade as "European ivory"; it is said to be sold for 6,000 dollars a kilo...!
Information from: The Lake Geneva and Lake Annecy diving website, plongee-passion.ch, "Anguille" (Eel)
All about life in Montreux, mymontreux.ch, "The eels of Lake Geneva have been excommunicated".
Comptoir des Pêcheurs, comptoirdespecheurs.comThe river eel
Yan Pauchard, "Les anguilles saisies à Cointrin et libérées dans la nature", Le Temps
Photo credits: decoy.ch
