We were learning about the Eel/Tuna, here is my report about them. I learnt lots of interesting things about them.
TUNA/EEL
LONGFIN EELS
The scientific name for eels is Anguilliformes. There are two main types of eel,shortfin and longfin,eel is referred to as tuna in maori. There are fewer eels today because of previous and modern fishing and the loss of wetlands,which is where eels like to live and breed. Longfin are the longest living eels because the are the slowest growers,they only grow 1-2 cm a year!
Longfin eels also have toxic blood! Not a good idea to eat one,which means that they don’t have many natural predators,{:-).
Appearance
Longfin eels true to their name have two long fins on the sides of their body that are situated (found) behind their heads. Longfin eels have toxic blood, The oldest recorded longfin eel lived for 106 years,and was female. Females are longer, up to 61 inches and can weigh up to 53 pounds (24 kilograms). Males grow up to 29 inches and tend to not live as long as the females
Habitat
Longfin eels like living in wetlands and swamps, other eels live in:rivers,oceans,lakes,undersea trenches,cove,caves,lagoons and many other places involved with water. Watch yourself when swimming where eels are known to live eels have a nasty bite a backwards curved teeth,meaning if you get bitten it’s very hard to get the to let go,getting bitten by their teeth is basically like getting a fish hook stab your leg,NASTY!
Reproduction
Females can produce up to 20 million eggs!
They are gradually becoming extinct due to the loss of habitats and by sportfishing,so please don’t try to catch these eels or there will be none left soon which wouldn’t be very good for people who like eels. Be careful not to get to close to their babies,eels can be very territorial,and don’t like being disturbed.
Species
There are 800 different species of eels in the world to many to name,the most commonly know eels are electric eels,and the one i find most interesting is the Gulper eel, which live extremely deep in the ocean,have massive mouths and are completely blind,mainly because there’s no light where they live:the midnight zone. They feed off other deep sea creatures and off the dead fish and creatures that fall from the surface.
I hope you enjoyed my report about eels and remember,look after our oceans and earth,including its life,like eels.
By robin green,room 6 kawakawa primary.
We were learning to write an explanation on a cicada. We had to create a flowchart for our planning.
