Japanese eel: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Japanese eel lives – recorded in 3 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Anguilla japonica
Group	Bony fish
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	3 countries
Continents	Asia
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Anguilliformes
Family	Anguillidae

Where does the Japanese eel live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Japanese eel in 3 countries and territories across Asia. Wikidata gives its range as: Yangtze River.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Japanese eel endangered?

The Japanese eel’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Japanese eel?

The Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is a ray-finned fish in the order Anguilliformes and the family Anguillidae, genus Anguilla. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Japanese eel

The Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica; nihon unagi (日本鰻)) is a species of anguillid eel found in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam, as well as the northern Philippines. Like all the eels of the genus Anguilla and the family Anguillidae, it is catadromous, meaning it spawns in the sea but lives most of its adult life in freshwater.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Japanese eel (revision 1378412001), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1140081 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).