The Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is a species of anguillid eel found in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as the northern Philippines. It is catadromous migratory fish. meaning it spawns in the sea but lives parts of its life in freshwater. The spawning area of this species is in the North Equatorial Current in the western North Pacific to the west of the Mariana Islands. The larvae are called leptocephali and are carried westward by the North Equatorial Current and then northward by the Kuroshio Current to East Asia. The pictures shows translucent bamboo leaf shaped Anguilla japoinica. Leptocephalus.