Like all the eels of the genus Anguilla and the family Anguillidae, it is catadromous, meaning it spawns in the sea but lives parts of its life in freshwater.

However, presumably due to a combination of overfishing and habitat loss or changing water conditions in the ocean interfering with spawning and the transport of their leptocephali this species is endangered.

Adult Japanese eels migrate thousands of kilometers from freshwater rivers in East Asia to their spawning area without feeding.

Then in 2005, the same team of Japanese scientists at the University of Tokyo found a more precise location of spawning based on genetically identified specimens of newly hatched pre-larva only 2 to 5 days old in a small area near the Suruga Seamount to the west of the Mariana Islands (14–17° N, 142–143° E).

This time is during a tide that occurs at night and simulates a flood making it easier for the eels to survive their migration.

The characteristics of this stage include a dull pigment with a grey, brown, and greenish top and white underbelly.

The collections of eggs and recently hatched larvae have been made along the western side of the seamount chain of the West Mariana Ridge.

In fresh water and estuaries, the diet of yellow eels consists mainly of shrimp, other crustaceans, aquatic insects, and small fishes.

[9] When experimentally fed to dark sleepers, most Japanese eels attempted to escape up the digestive tract into the gills and esophagus.

In the case of the Japanese eel's spawning is likely affected by the north–south shifts of a salinity front created by an area of low-salinity waters resulting from tropical rainfall.

A northward shift in the front that occurred over the past 30 years appears to have occurred, which could cause more larvae to be retained in eddies offshore in the region east of Taiwan, and southward shifts in the salinity front have been observed in recent years that could increase southward transport into the Mindanao Current that flows into the Celebes Sea.

The coast is becoming a more preferred location for humans to live as the climate and pollution continues to worsen taking away from the habitat of these eels.

[1] There are multiple preservation effectors that the Japanese government is undertaking to slow or stop the extinction of this highly important species for their consumption.

In 2015 the Inland Water Fishery Promotion Act was put in place preventing the fishing and culturing of eels without the proper permit.

In the future there is a law being placed that in December 2023 that makes fishing glass eels without a permit punishable with up to 3 years in prison or a 30 million Japanese yen fine.

The high price and demand of this species means that there is also need for the Act on "Ensuring the Proper Domestic Distribution and Importation of Specified Aquatic Animals and Plants" that prohibits harvesting and culturing these eels without a permit that was put in place in 2020.

Scientists and farmers have never been able to breed an eel, so this species' agriculture relies heavily on their catch in their elver stage.

[15] A net is strewn across the rivers that these eels migrate up in the early autumn, and then they are transported to cultured ponds to grow to commercial size.

UnaG has demonstrated utility in life sciences and can be used to fluorescently label cells and tag proteins when exogenously expressed.

The Japanese eel contains a protein toxin in its blood that can cause harm to any mammals that ingest it, including humans.

[23] Additionally, they are rich in dietary protein and contain a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids,[23] albeit not as much as other seafood, like sardines.