CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to distinguish wild eels?

How to distinguish wild eels?

Eel, also known as yellow eel, is a fish that looks like a snake, but has no scales on its body. Instead, it has a layer of lubricating mucus on its body surface, which makes it easier to escape when encountering enemies. It likes to live in lakes, rice fields, rivers, etc. Eel meat is plump and has high nutritional value. So how do you distinguish between farmed eels and wild eels when buying them?

1. Differentiate from the eel’s head

Wild eels live in caves in the mud at the bottom of rivers and ponds. Eels use their heads to drill holes, and the mucus on their bodies reduces friction, so the heads of wild eels are pointier than those of farmed eels. The whole eel looks like it has a pointy head and a thin body. Farmed eels are mostly farmed in a soilless environment, and the eels have a wide, not pointed head, a round head, a thick body, and are overall more solid.

2. Look at the color

Wild eels have a long growth cycle, dark color, small patterns, especially the lower abdomen which is bright yellow; while farmed eels have a short growth cycle, lighter color, slightly green, and large patterns.

3. Look at the tail

The tail of a wild eel is strong, pointed and thin, and will entangle your fingers when touched. The tail of a farmed eel is round, weak and will not entangle.

4. Look at the size

Wild eels grow slowly and are generally slender in shape, with well-developed muscles. They swim around freely and resist violently and with great force when caught, and are very alert. Farmed eels, on the other hand, grow thicker, with very weak muscles, and are docile in temperament and generally unwilling to move. Their muscles feel soft and their ability to resist is weak when caught.