Eel, Garfish, Lamprey

Eels have been fished for centuries but until recently their life cycle was a mystery. Baby elvers (called glass eels because they are almost transparent), 2-3 in/5-7 cm long appear in spring at the mouths of rivers, bunched together by the million in long shoals that make their way upstream. There the elvers grow, first turning a yellowish color, then silver. After several years they return to sea to spawn. Their spawning grounds were unknown until early this century, when it was proved that Atlantic eels return from Europe and America all the way to the Sargasso Sea.