eel or leech?
Posted by Clare Geiman on August 25, 2005
Q: when swimming in a freshwater pond on the coast of Maine (with no outlet to the sea) we saw what at first looked like a small eel. It was about 6 inches long, brownish, swimming in the shallow waters on the edge of the pond, and appeared to have a small fantail and some fin structure. We thought it might be a leech because it appeared to be attracted to our feet. I have tried to identify it by searching for images of both leeches and feshwater eels, with no success. Can you help figure out what this was?
Habitat: pond/lake
State: Maine
Habitat: pond/lake
A: Everything you said about your animal made me think leech until you talked about fins. It's certainly possible that your animal simply "looked" as though it had fins even though it did not. Although young eels are found in freshwater along the Maine coast, they shouldn't be located in any land-locked water bodies since they get their via the ocean.
Leeches are rather common in freshwater slow-moving streams, ponds, marshes, and lakes especially in the northern part of the U.S. When swimming (not all species are good swimmers) they undulate either side to side or up and down and can certainly look like an eel. Some species are very colorful and this may have given the impression of fins - so not sure exactly what you saw. Some kinds are rather large and when stretched out, one species is up to 18 inches long!
I've tried to find out what color baby eels would be when they're about 6 inches long and at the coast but am not sure so I can't rule out an eel, based on your color. Take a look at the two sites I have included; one gives info on leeches and the other info on eels. Sure hope this helps you make an ID on this one. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( August 25, 2005)