A Kansas angler reeled in something that hadn't been seen in the area in about a decade: an American eel.
The 30-inch long eel was caught in the Kansas River in Lawrence on Sept. 11 by Tim Smith, who used a worm for bait.
Since the eels spawn in the Atlantic, this one must've traveled quite a distance to reach Kansas.
"It would have migrated from the Atlantic through the Gulf, up the Mississippi," Ron Kaufman, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, told the Lawrence Journal-World. "It would have taken a turn at Saint Louis to get to the Missouri River and another left to get into the Kansas River."
He said there could be others in the area -- but don't expect to see them very often.
The Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism says the eels are generally nocturnal, hiding under logs during the day and feeding on invertebrates and soft-bodied fish. The agency said that while the eels were not uncommon in the area a century ago, dams along the rivers have blocked migration and made them much less common.
There has been a push to list the American eel as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. However, earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the population is stable and the species does not need protection.
"While American eels still face local mortality from harvest and hydroelectric facilities, this is not threatening the overall species," the agency said, according to Tech Times.
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