特别广播英语第 272 课：Slippery When Wet 滑溜溜的鳗鱼

Many people enjoy eating fried eel, but few stop to think about the life of this unique fish. 很多人喜欢吃炸鳗鱼，但很少有人会停下来想想这种独特鱼类的生活习性。

There are hundreds of different species of eel, all of which can be roughly divided into two groups according to their habitat: saltwater and freshwater. 鳗鱼的种类有数百种，根据其栖息地大致可以分为两类：咸水鳗鱼和淡水鳗鱼。

Despite living in different waters, all eels spawn in the sea. 尽管生活在不同的水域，所有的鳗鱼都在海里产卵。

This means some freshwater eels migrate great distances to reach their saltwater destinations. 这说明一些淡水鳗鱼必须长途迁徙到它们的咸水产卵地。

Biologists have discovered freshwater eels from North American and European rivers and lakes gathering as far as the middle of the Atlantic ocean during late summer. 生物学家已经发现，夏末时节，北美及欧洲河流湖泊里的淡水鳗鱼会远迁到大西洋中部聚集。

Once the eels arrive, the females lay their eggs and the males fertilize them. The adult eels then die there. 一旦这些鳗鱼抵达了目的地，雌鳗鱼就会产卵而雄鳗鱼就会给它们授精。之后成年鳗鱼就死在那儿。

The next spring a new generation is born in the ocean. 第二年春天，新一代鳗鱼在海中诞生。

Those European and North American young then return to their respective coasts to begin the unusual life cycle of the eel anew. 那些欧洲和北美洲的幼鱼就会回到它们各自的海岸，重新开始鳗鱼独特的生命周期。