scholarly journals How the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) loses its skeletal framework across lifetime

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1841) ◽  
pp. 20161550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Rolvien ◽  
Florian Nagel ◽  
Petar Milovanovic ◽  
Sven Wuertz ◽  
Robert Percy Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bone Loss ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
Morphological Transformation ◽  
The North ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Cellular Bone

European eels ( Anguilla anguilla ) undertake an impressive 5 000 km long migration from European fresh waters through the North Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea. Along with sexual maturation, the eel skeleton undergoes a remarkable morphological transformation during migration, where a hitherto completely obscure bone loss phenomenon occurs. To unravel mechanisms of the maturation-related decay of the skeleton, we performed a multiscale assessment of eels' bones at different life-cycle stages. Accordingly, the skeleton reflects extensive bone loss that is mediated via multinucleated bone-resorbing osteoclasts, while other resorption mechanisms such as osteocytic osteolysis or matrix demineralization were not observed. Preserving mechanical stability and releasing minerals for energy metabolism are two mutually exclusive functions of the skeleton that are orchestrated in eels through the presence of two spatially segregated hard tissues: cellular bone and acellular notochord. The cellular bone serves as a source of mineral release following osteoclastic resorption, whereas the mineralized notochord sheath, which is inaccessible for resorption processes due to an unmineralized cover layer, ensures sufficient mechanical stability as a part of the notochord sheath. Clearly, an eel's skeleton is structurally optimized to meet the metabolic challenge of fasting and simultaneous sexual development during an exhausting journey to spawning areas, while the function of the vertebral column is maintained to achieve this goal.

How does the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) retain its population structure during its larval migration across the North Atlantic Ocean?

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
A James Kettle ◽  
Keith Haines
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
Larval Migration ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
And Migration

A Lagrangian model is presented of the current-carried migration of the leptocephali (larvae) of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) across the North Atlantic Ocean from the spawning area in the Sargasso Sea to the adult range in Europe and North Africa. The success of larvae in crossing the Atlantic Ocean and reaching particular latitude bins on the eastern side depended strongly on starting location in the Sargasso Sea and migration depth. In the model domain, silver eel spawners can develop strategies for spawning location and migration depth to preferentially target particular regions in the adult range. This observation may help to explain the presence of gradients in molecular markers in eel samples collected across Europe. Spawning in the period of late winter – spring maximizes the average food availability along the 2-year larval trajectory. The fastest transatlantic larval migration in the model is about 2 years, and the route to Europe takes most of the larvae past the east coast of North America in the first year. These model results are consistent with the hypothesis that the European and American eel (Anguilla rostrata) could separate themselves on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean on the basis of the different durations of their larval stages.

scholarly journals Spawning by the European eel across 2000 km of the Sargasso Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 20180835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Miller ◽  
Håkan Westerberg ◽  
Henrik Sparholt ◽  
Klaus Wysujack ◽  
Sune R. Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
Silver Eel ◽  
Historical Collections ◽  
The North ◽  
Longitudinal Zone ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
German Research

It has been known for about a century that European eels have a unique life history that includes offshore spawning in the Sargasso Sea about 5000–7000 km away from their juvenile and adult habitats in Europe and northern Africa. Recently hatched eel larvae were historically collected during Danish, German and American surveys in specific areas in the southern Sargasso Sea. During a 31 day period of March and April 2014, Danish and German research ships sampled for European eel larvae along 15 alternating transects of stations across the Sargasso Sea. The collection of recently hatched eel larvae (≤12 mm) from 70° W and eastward to 50° W showed that the European eel had been spawning across a 2000 km wide region of the North Atlantic Ocean. Historical collections made from 1921 to 2007 showed that small larvae had also previously been collected in this wide longitudinal zone, showing that the spatial extent of spawning has not diminished in recent decades, irrespective of the dramatic decline in recruitment. The use of such a wide spawning area may be related to variations in the onset of the silver eel spawning migration, individual differences in their long-term swimming ability, or aspects of larval drift.

scholarly journals Panmixia in the European eel: a matter of time…

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1568) ◽  
pp. 1129-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Dannewitz ◽  
Gregory E Maes ◽  
Leif Johansson ◽  
Håkan Wickström ◽  
Filip A.M Volckaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Temporal Genetic Variation

The European eel ( Anguilla anguilla L.) has been a prime example of the panmixia paradigm because of its extraordinary adaptation to the North Atlantic gyral system, semelparous spawning in the Sargasso Sea and long trans-oceanic migration. Recently, this view was challenged by the suggestion of a genetic structure characterized by an isolation-by-distance (IBD) pattern. This is only likely if spawning subpopulations are spatially and/or temporally separated, followed by non-random larval dispersal. A limitation of previous genetic work on eels is the lack of replication over time to test for temporal stability of genetic structure. Here, we hypothesize that temporal genetic variation plays a significant role in explaining the spatial structure reported earlier for this species. We tested this by increasing the texture of geographical sampling and by including temporal replicates. Overall genetic differentiation among samples was low, highly significant and comparable with earlier studies ( F ST =0.0014; p <0.01). On the other hand, and in sharp contrast with current understandings, hierarchical analyses revealed no significant inter-location genetic heterogeneity and hence no IBD. Instead, genetic variation among temporal samples within sites clearly exceeded the geographical component. Our results provide support for the panmixia hypothesis and emphasize the importance of temporal replication when assessing population structure of marine fish species.

Challenges to quantifying glass eel abundance from large and dynamic estuaries

2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 727-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Walmsley ◽  
Julie Bremner ◽  
Alan Walker ◽  
Jon Barry ◽  
David Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Estuarine System ◽  
Glass Eel ◽  
The North ◽  
Adequate Sampling ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Glass Eels

Abstract European eel Anguilla anguilla recruitment into the rivers of the northeastern Atlantic has declined substantially since the 1980s. Monitoring of recruiting juveniles, or glass eels, is usually undertaken in small estuaries and rivers. Sampling of large-scale estuaries is rare, due to the size of the sampling area and the resources needed to provide adequate sampling levels. Here we describe surveys for glass eels in the UK’s largest estuarine system, the Severn Estuary/Bristol Channel. We sampled across a 20 km-wide stretch of the estuary in 2012 and 2013, using a small-meshed net deployed from a commercial fishing trawler, and the surveys yielded over 2500 glass eels. Eels were more abundant in the surface layer (0–1.4 m depth) than at depth (down to 8.4 m depth), were more abundant close to the south shore than along the north shore or middle of the estuary, and were more abundant in lower salinity water. Numbers were higher in the second year than in the first and eels were more abundant in February than April. The difficulties and logistics of sampling in such a large estuary are discussed, along with the level of resources required to provide robust estimates of glass eel abundance.

scholarly journals Gelatinous plankton is important in the diet of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) larvae in the Sargasso Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Ayala ◽  
Peter Munk ◽  
Regitze B. C. Lundgreen ◽  
Sachia J. Traving ◽  
Cornelia Jaspers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea

scholarly journals Glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) imprint the magnetic direction of tidal currents from their juvenile estuaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Cresci ◽  
Caroline M. Durif ◽  
Claire B. Paris ◽  
Steven D. Shema ◽  
Anne Berit Skiftesvik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
Magnetic Compass ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
North African ◽  
Compass Direction ◽  
Tidal Flows ◽  
Glass Eels ◽  
Cardinal Directions ◽  
Magnetic North

Abstract The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) hatches in the Sargasso Sea and migrates to European and North African freshwater. As glass eels, they reach estuaries where they become pigmented. Glass eels use a tidal phase-dependent magnetic compass for orientation, but whether their magnetic direction is innate or imprinted during migration is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that glass eels imprint their tidal-dependent magnetic compass direction at the estuaries where they recruit. We collected 222 glass eels from estuaries flowing in different cardinal directions in Austevoll, Norway. We observed the orientation of the glass eels in a magnetic laboratory where the magnetic North was rotated. Glass eels oriented towards the magnetic direction of the prevailing tidal current occurring at their recruitment estuary. Glass eels use their magnetic compass to memorize the magnetic direction of tidal flows. This mechanism could help them to maintain their position in an estuary and to migrate upstream.

Evidence for a population collapse of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in the Bristol Channel

2011 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 843-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Henderson ◽  
Shaun J. Plenty ◽  
Lyn C. Newton ◽  
David J. Bird
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Cooling Water ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
Fish Population ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Power Station ◽  
Population Number ◽  
Population Collapse ◽  
Recruitment Failure ◽  
The North

A 30-year study of the estuarine population of yellow eel, Anguilla anguilla, abundance in Bridgwater Bay, Somerset, UK, shows that the population number has collapsed. Since 1980, the decline has averaged 15% per year. The abundance of eel in 2009 is estimated at only 1% of that in 1980. This is one of the greatest systematically quantified crashes of a fish population ever reported. Collections of eels impinged on cooling water filter screens were made monthly at Hinkley Point power station between 1980 and 2010 and from Oldbury power station between 1996 and 1998. Eels are always present in the Severn Estuary, although there are large seasonal variations in abundance. At Oldbury, in the upper estuary, eels are least abundant in January. In contrast, in the outer estuary in Bridgwater Bay, eels are most abundant between November and March. The size-distribution of yellow eels ranged from <200 to >700 mm indicating an age-range since the glass eel stage of 2 to >25 years. The mean size-range has not changed since the 1980s indicating that the population collapse is not caused by a sudden recruitment failure. It is suggested that there has been a continual long-term failure of recruitment to compensate for losses. The reason for this is unidentified, but is unlikely to be changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation or other natural environmental variability. A major effort to improve eel survival to adulthood is required if this species is not to gently fade to extinction. This would likely involve a cessation of elver fishing, a reduction in the volume of estuarine water extracted for power station cooling and other purposes during which eels are entrained and killed, and the removal of obstructions which increase mortality during migration.

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

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. McCleave ◽  
P.J. Brickley ◽  
K.M. O'Brien ◽  
D.A. Kistner ◽  
M.W. Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Sargasso Sea ◽  
North East ◽  
Nutritional Mode ◽  
Mid Atlantic Ridge ◽  
One Year ◽  
European Coast

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.

scholarly journals Bone resorption and body reorganization during maturation induce maternal transfer of toxic metals in anguillid eels

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (23) ◽  
pp. 11339-11344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Freese ◽  
Larissa Yokota Rizzo ◽  
Jan-Dag Pohlmann ◽  
Lasse Marohn ◽  
Paul Eckhard Witten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Toxic Metals ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Maternal Transfer ◽  
Potentially Toxic Metals ◽  
Gonadal Tissue ◽  
Critically Endangered Species

During their once-in-a-lifetime transoceanic spawning migration, anguillid eels do not feed, instead rely on energy stores to fuel the demands of locomotion and reproduction while they reorganize their bodies by depleting body reserves and building up gonadal tissue. Here we show how the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) breaks down its skeleton to redistribute phosphorus and calcium from hard to soft tissues during its sexual development. Using multiple analytical and imaging techniques, we characterize the spatial and temporal degradation of the skeletal framework from initial to final gonadal maturation and use elemental mass ratios in bone, muscle, liver, and gonadal tissue to determine the fluxes and fates of selected minerals and metals in the eels’ bodies. We find that bone loss is more pronounced in females than in males and eventually may reach a point at which the mechanical stability of the skeleton is challenged. P and Ca are released and translocated from skeletal tissues to muscle and gonads, leaving both elements in constant proportion in remaining bone structures. The depletion of internal stores from hard and soft tissues during maturation-induced body reorganization is accompanied by the recirculation, translocation, and maternal transfer of potentially toxic metals from bone and muscle to the ovaries in gravid females, which may have direct deleterious effects on health and hinder the reproductive success of individuals of this critically endangered species.

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