Glass eels

Glass eels typically refers to an intermediary stage in the eel's complex life history between the leptocephalus stage and the juvenile (elver) stage. Glass eels are defined as "all developmental stages from completion of leptocephalus metamorphosis until full pigmentation".^[1] The term typically refers to a transparent glass eel of the family Anguillidae. These are the freshwater eels that spawn in the ocean, and then enter estuaries as glass eels and swim upstream to live in freshwater during their juvenile growth phase. As the glass eels enter freshwater they start to become pigmented and are typically referred to as elvers. The elvers grow larger and are referred to as yellow eels, which are the juvenile stage of eels before their reproductive maturation begins.

Marine eels of the order Anguilliformes also have a leptocephalus stage, and likely pass through a stage similar to the anguillid glass eels, but they are rarely seen in the ocean.

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