Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T07:12:58.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Do Leptocephali of the European Eel Swim to Reach Continental Waters? Status of the Question

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J.D. McCleave ,
P.J. Brickley ,
K.M. O'Brien ,
D.A. Kistner ,
M.W. Wong ,
M. Gallagher  and
Stephanie M. Watson
J.D. McCleave
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences
P.J. Brickley
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences
K.M. O'Brien
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences
D.A. Kistner
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences
M.W. Wong
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences
M. Gallagher
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences
Stephanie M. Watson
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

We examined recent arguments that leptocephali of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla, swim in an oriented manner, rather than drift, to reach the continental shelf of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. There is a cline of increasing body length of leptocephali from south to north and from west to east from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (30°W) to the continental shelf, which could represent migration from south-west to north-east, transport eastward at all latitudes, or increased growth rate with latitude. Evidence that this cline is a trend in age of arriving glass eels along the European coast, and that the duration of migration is less than one year, is weak. Ages reported in the literature for specimens from Morocco to The Netherlands were based on the unvalidated assumption that rings in otoliths were deposited daily. The assumption is unwarranted because of low metabolic rate and uncertainty of nutritional mode of leptocephali. If the assumption were accepted, calculated hatching dates of eels arriving at the European coast imply year-round spawning. Lengths of leptocephali in the Sargasso Sea at various times imply that eels spawn only in late winter and spring. Leptocephali contain tiny amounts of muscle, especially aerobic muscle for sustained swimming. They probably have insufficient capability to swim across the Atlantic in the less than 1–2 y reported by others.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , February 1998 , pp. 285 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appelbaum, S. & Riehl, R., 1993. Scanning electron microscopic observations on the head morphology of seven different leptocephali belonging to six eel families (Anguilliformes). Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 47, 113–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bast, H.-D. & Klinkhardt, M., 1987. Distribution of some mesopelagic fishes in the Iberian Basin (eastern central North Atlantic). Part 1. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Wilhelm-Pieck-Universität Rostock, 36, 57–62.Google Scholar
Bast, H.-D. & Strehlow, B., 1990. Length composition and abundance of eel larvae, Anguilla anguilla (Anguilliformes: Anguillidae), in the Iberian Basin (northeastern Atlantic) during July-September 1984. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 44, 353–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batty, R.S., 1984. Development of swimming movements and musculature of larval herring (Clupea harengus). Journal of Experimental Biology, 110, 217–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boëtius, J., 1980. Atlantic Anguilla. A presentation of old and new data of total numbers of vertebrae with special reference to the occurrence of Anguilla rostrata in Europe. Dana, 1, 93–112.Google Scholar
Boëtius, J. & Harding, E.F., 1985a. A re-examination of Johannes Schmidt's Atlantic eel investigations. Dana, 4, 129–162.Google Scholar
Boëtius, J. & Harding, E.F., 1985b. List of Atlantic and Mediterranean Anguilla leptocephali: Danish material up tp 1966. Dana, 4, 163–249.Google Scholar
Bray, N.A., Winant, C.D., Kinder, T.H. & Candela, J., 1990. Generation and kinematics of the internal tide in the Strait of Gibraltar. In The physical oceanography of sea straits (ed. L.J., Pratt), pp. 477–491. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruun, A.F., 1963. The breeding of the north Atlantic freshwater-eels. Advances in Marine Biology, 1, 137–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castonguay, M. & McCleave, J.D., 1987. Vertical distribution, diel and ontogenetic vertical migrations and net avoidance of leptocephali of Anguilla and other common species in the Sargasso Sea. Journal of Plankton Research, 9, 195–214.Google Scholar
Desaunay, Y., Guerault, D. & Lecomte-Finiger, R., 1993. Variation of the oceanic larval migration of Anguilla anguilla (L.) glass eels from a two years study in the Vilaine Estuary (France). Paper presented at the 8th session of EIFAC Working Party on Eel.Google Scholar
Dietrich, G., Kalle, W., Krauss, W. & Siedler, G., 1980. General oceanography: an introduction. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Elie, P., Lecomte-Finiger, R., Cantrelle, I. & Charlon, N., 1982. Définition des limites des différents stades pigmentaires durant la phase civelle d'Anguilla anguilla L. (Poisson téléostéen anguilliforme). Vie et Milieu, 32, 149–157.Google Scholar
Enger, P.S., Kristensen, L. & Sand, O., 1976. The perception of weak electric d.c. currents by the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 54A, 101–103.Google Scholar
Geffen, A.J., 1992. Validation of otolith increment deposition rate. In Otolith microstructure examination and analysis (ed. D.K., Stevenson and S.E., Campana), pp. 101–113. Ottawa: National Research Council of Canada. [Canadian Special Publications in Fisheries and Aquatic Science, vol. 117.]Google Scholar
Gould, W.J., 1985. Physical oceanography of the Azores front. Progress in Oceanography, 14, 167–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, M., Karlsson, L. & Westerberg, H., 1984. Magnetic material in European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 77A, 221–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harden, Jones F.R., 1968. Fish migration. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Haro, A.J. & Krueger, W.H., 1988. Pigmentation, size, and migration of elvers (Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur)) in a coastal Rhode Island stream. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 66, 2528–2533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hulet, W.H., 1978. Structure and functional development of the eel leptocephalus Ariosoma balearicum (De La Roche, 1809). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 282, 107–138.Google Scholar
Käse, R.H., Price, J.F., Richardson, P.L. & Zenk, W., 1986. A quasi-synoptic survey of the thermocline circulation and water mass distribution within the Canary Basin, journal of Geophysical Research, 91, 9739–9748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, L., 1985. Behavioural responses of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla) to the geomagnetic field. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen, 39, 71–81.Google Scholar
Kleckner, R.C. & McCleave, J.D., 1985. Spatial and temporal distribution of American eel larvae in relation to North Atlantic Ocean current systems. Dana, 4, 67–92.Google Scholar
Kleckner, R.C. & McCleave, J.D., 1988. The northern limit of spawning by Atlantic eels (Anguilla spp.) in the Sargasso Sea in relation to thermal fronts and surface water masses, journal of Marine Research, 46, 647–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleckner, R.C., Wippelhauser, G.S. & McCleave, J.D., 1985. List of Atlantic Anguilla leptocephali: American material. Dana, 4, 99–128.Google Scholar
Klein, B. & Siedler, G., 1989. On the origin of the Azores Current. Journal of Geophysical Research, 94, 6159–6168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kracht, R., 1982. On the geographic distribution and migration of I- and II-group eel larvae as studied during the 1979 Sargasso Sea Expedition. Helgoldnder Meeresuntersuchungen, 35, 321–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kracht, R. & Tesch, F.-W., 1981. Progress report on the eel expedition of RV ‘Anton Dohrn’ and RC ‘Friedrich Heincke’ to the Sargasso Sea 1979. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 6, 371–375.Google Scholar
Krauss, W., 1986. The North Atlantic Current. Journal of Geophysical Research, 91, 5061–5074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lacombe, H. & Richez, C., 1982. The regime of the Strait of Gibraltar. In Hydrodynamics of semi-enclosed seas (ed. J.C.J., Nihoul), pp. 13–73. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Lecomte-Finiger, R., 1992. Growth history and age at recruitment of European glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) as revealed by otolith microstructure. Marine Biology, 114, 205–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lecomte-Finiger, R., Desaunay, Y., Guerault, D. & Grellier, P., 1993. The immigration of Anguilla anguilla (L.) glass eels in coastal waters: questions about the determinism of the otolith structures. Paper presented at 8th session of EIFAC Working Party on Eel.Google Scholar
Leonard, J.B. & Summers, R.G., 1976. The ultrastructure of the integument of the American eel, Anguilla rostrata. Cell and Tissue Research, 171, 1–30.Google ScholarPubMed
Martin, M.H., 1995. Validation of daily growth increments in otoliths of Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur) elvers. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 73, 208–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCleave, J.D., 1993. Physical and behavioural controls on the oceanic distribution and migration of leptocephali. Journal of Fish Biology, 43, supplement A, 243–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCleave, J.D. & Kleckner, R.C., 1987. Distribution of leptocephali of the catadromous Anguilla species in the western Sargasso Sea in relation to water circulation and migration. Bulletin of Marine Science, 41, 789–806.Google Scholar
McCleave, J.D., Kleckner, R.C. & Castonguay, M., 1987. Reproductive sympatry of American and European eels and implications for migration and taxonomy. American Fisheries Society Symposium, 1, 286–297.Google Scholar
Mochioka, N., Iwamizu, M. & Kanda, T., 1993. Leptocephalus eel larvae will feed in aquaria. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 36, 381–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otake, T., Hirokawa, J., Fujimoto, H. & Imaizumi, K., 1995. Fine structure and function of the gut epithelium of pike eel larvae. Journal of Fish Biology, 47, 126–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otake, T., Nogami, K. & Maruyama, K., 1993. Dissolved and particulars organic matter as possible food sources for eel leptocephali. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 92, 27–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettigrew, N.R. & Hyde, R.A., 1990. The structure of the internal bore in the Strait of Gibraltar and its influence on the Atlantic inflow. In The physical oceanography of sea straits (ed. L.J., Pratt), pp. 493–508. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Pfeiler, E., 1986. Towards an explanation of the developmental strategy in leptocephalus larvae of marine teleost fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 15, 3–13.Google Scholar
Pfeiler, E. & Govoni, J.J., 1993. Metabolic rates in early life history stages of elopomorph fishes. Biological Bulletin. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, 185, 277–283.Google Scholar
Pollard, R.T. & Pu, S., 1985. Structure and circulation of the upper Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Azores. Progress in Oceanography, 14, 443–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rommel, S.A. Jr, & McCleave, J.D., 1973a. Sensitivity of American eels (Anguilla rostrata) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to weak electric and magnetic fields, journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 30, 657–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rommel, S.A. Jr, & McCleave, J.D., 1973b. Prediction of oceanic electric fields in relation to fish migration, journal du Conseil international pour I ‘Exploration de la Mer, 35, 27–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, J., 1909. Remarks on the metamorphosis and distribution of the larvae of the eel (Anguilla vulgaris, Turt). Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havundersogelser. Serie: Fiskeri, 3, 1–17.Google Scholar
Schmidt, J., 1922. The breeding places of the eel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 211, 179–211.Google Scholar
Schmitz, W.J. Jr., & McCartney, M.S., 1993. On the North Atlantic circulation. Reviews of Geophysics, 31, 29–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoth, M. & Tesch, F.-W., 1982. Spatial distribution of 0-group eel larvae (Anguilla sp.) in the Sargasso Sea. Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen, 35, 309–320.Google Scholar
Schoth, M. & Tesch, F.-W., 1984. The vertical distribution of small 0-group Anguilla larvae in the Sargasso Sea with reference to other anguilliform leptocephali. Meeresforschung, 30, 188–195.Google Scholar
Strubberg, A., 1913. The metamorphosis of elvers as influenced by outward conditions: some experiments. Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havundersøgelser. Serie: Fiskeri, 4, 1–11.Google Scholar
Sy, A., 1988. Investigation of large-scale circulation patterns in the central North Atlantic: the North Atlantic Current, the Azores Current, and the Mediterranean water plume in the area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 383–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sy, A., Schauer, U. & Meincke, J., 1992. The North Atlantic Current and its associated structure above and eastwards of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Deep-Sea Research, 39, 825–853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tabeta, O., Tanaka, K., Yamada, J. & Tzeng, W.-N., 1987. Aspects of the early life history of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica determined from otolith microstructure. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi, 53, 1727–1734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tanaka, H., Kagawa, H., Ohta, H., Okuzawa, K. & Hirose, K., 1995. The first report of eel larvae ingesting rotifers. Fisheries Science, 61, 171–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tesch, F.-W., 1977. The eel. Biology and management of anguillid eels. London: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Tesch, F.-W., 1980. Occurrence of eel Anguilla anguilla larvae west of the European continental shelf, 1971–1977. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 5, 185–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tesch, F.-W., 1982. The Sargasso Sea eel expedition 1979. Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen, 35, 263–277.Google Scholar
Tesch, F.-W., Niermann, U. & Plaga, A., 1986. Differences in development stage and stock density of larval Anguilla anguilla off the west coast of Europe. Vie et Milieu, 36, 255–260.Google Scholar
Tesch, F.-W. & Wegner, G., 1990. The distribution of small larvae of Anguilla sp. related to hydrographic conditions 1981 between Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Internationale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie, 75, 845–858.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tesch, F.-W., Wendt, T. & Karlsson, L., 1992. Influence of geomagnetism on the activity and orientation of the eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.), as evident from laboratory experiments. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 1, 52–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsukamoto, K., 1990. Recruitment mechanism of the eel, Anguilla japonica, to the Japanese coast. journal of Fish Biology, 36, 659–671.Google Scholar
Tucker, D.W., 1959. A new solution to the Atlantic eel problem. Nature, London, 183, 495–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turnpenny, A.W.H., 1983. Swimming performance of juvenile sprat, Sprattus sprattus L., and herring, Clupea harengus L., at different salinities, journal of Fish Biology, 23, 321–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tzeng, W.N., 1990. Relationship between growth rate and age at recruitment of Anguilla japonica elvers in a Taiwan estuary as inferred from otolith growth increments. Marine Biology, 107, 75–81.Google Scholar
Umezawa, A. & Tsukamoto, K., 1991. Factors influencing otolith increment formation in Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica T. & S., elvers, journal of Fish Biology, 39, 211–223.Google Scholar
Utrecht, W.L. Van. & Holleboom, M.A., 1985. Notes on eel larvae (Anguilla anguilla Linnaeus, 1758) from the central and eastern North Atlantic and on glass eels from the European continental shelf. Bijdragen Tot de Dierkunde, 55, 249–262.Google Scholar
Webb, P.W., 1993. Swimming. In Fish physiology (ed. D.H., Evans), pp. 44–73. New York: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, G.R., 1987. Vertical drifting position of glass eels, Anguilla rostrata, off Newfound-land. Journal of Fish Biology, 31, 587–588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wippelhauser, G.S., McCleave, J.D. & Kleckner, R.C., 1985. Anguilla rostrata leptocephali in the Sargasso Sea during February and March 1981. Dana, 4, 93–98.Google Scholar
Worthington, L.V., 1976. On the North Atlantic circulation. Baltimore: John Hopkins University [Oceanography Studies, vol. 6.]Google Scholar