InfluenImpact of individual morphological and physiological characteristics on the sexual maturation of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) ...

• Main Authors: Durif, Caroline M.F., Dufour, Sylvie, Elie, Pierre
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: ASC 2005 - Q - Theme session 2024
• Subjects: Fisheries and aquaculture; Technologies and data; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.25350433.v1; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/InfluenImpact_of_individual_morphological_and_physiological_characteristics_on_the_sexual_maturation_of_the_European_eel_Anguilla_anguilla_/25350433/1

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.Since the 1980’s worldwide populations of eels declined steeply (Moriarty 1986, ICES 2002, Dekker 2003a). Several causes have been identified and studied, but mainly those related to the freshwater life phase. Marine causes for this decline have also been hypothesised such as deteriorating reproductive capacities of the adults (Feunteun 2002, Dekker 2003b). The European eel is believed to spawn in the Sargasso Sea (Schmidt 1922), approximately 6000 km from its continental habitat. It is only during the long-distance migration to the spawning grounds that the eel undergoes true sexual maturation (vitellogenesis and ovarian development), triggered by environmental factors encountered during this phase. However, the oceanic life phase of eels remains for the most part a mystery as no sexually maturing individuals have ever been caught or observed in the open sea. At present, the only way to obtain sexually maturing eels, is to artificially ...