Heading south or north: novel insights on European silver eel Anguilla anguilla migration in the North Sea: Novel insights on European silver eel Anguilla anguilla migration in the North Sea

Jeroen Huisman, Pieterjan Verhelst*, Pieterjan Verhelst, K. Deneudt, Peter Goethals, Tom Moens, Leopold A.J. Nagelkerke, Carsten Nolting, Jan Reubens, Peter Paul Schollema, Hendrik V. Winter, Ans Mouton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The European eel Anguilla anguilla L. is a critically endangered fish species that migrates from coastal and freshwater habitats to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. However, the exact migration routes and destination of European eel are still unknown. We are the first to observe southward migrating silver eels in the North Sea. Eels were tagged with acoustic transmitters in 3 different river catchments in Western Europe and swam to the Dutch-Belgian coastal zone during their spawning migration. Therefore, at least part of the Western European population of eels migrates towards the English Channel, in contrast with the Nordic migration route hypothesis. This different migratory route may affect the energy reserve available for spawning and therefore the contribution of these eels to the population. As such, increasing our knowledge of marine eel migrations contributes to the goal of achieving sustainable eel stock management.

Original languageEnglish
Article number554
Pages (from-to)257-262
Number of pages6
JournalMarine Ecology Progress Series
Volume554
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Conservation
  • European eel
  • Marine migration
  • Telemetry

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