[4] It is a tropical, freshwater eel which is known from western New Guinea, Queensland, Australia, the Society Islands, and possibly South Africa.

[3] The eels spend most of their lives in freshwater, but migrate to the Pacific Ocean to breed.

Males can reach a maximum total length of 110 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of around 60 cm.

The Pacific shortfinned eel is most similar to Anguilla australis (more commonly known as the Short-finned eel), and Anguilla bicolor (the Indonesian shortfin eel), but can be distinguished by the number of vertebrae.

[3] The Pacific shortfinned eel feeds primarily off of bony fish (including the genus Oreochromis),[5] crustaceans and mollusks.