The eel is a member of the family Anguillidae. In some parts of Italy the large female (measuring up to one and a half metres in length) is called a “capitone”, while the male, which is slim and transparent (40-60 mm), is called a “ceca”. It is a widespread species in freshwater, brackish water and seas from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Males often spend time in brackish waters without swimming up rivers, as females do. Females can grow to a weight of 3 kg. The eel is a catadromous migratory fish: sexually mature specimens begin their migration in fresh or brackish water, where they live in autumn and swim to the sea, which they usually reach on a moonless night (in accordance with the species’ preference for the dark). They then make for the Sargasso Sea, the only place where this species is known to reproduce and where the females die, having stopped feeding during the long journey. Soon after birth, the elver make the return journey to Europe to the exact point from which its mother had set off, taking three years to make the trip. They are caught with various kinds of nets, traps and lines, including the “mazzacchera”, a type of hookless line baited with a “crown” of worms.