Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status
In the area of the Neretva delta in the eastern Adriatic, where the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) has been traditionally fished for centuries, a decline in its population has been observed, as in most of Europe. Despite several studies, systematic monitoring was not performed, and...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0849f48b155d4c2ebacac925d60c10b7 2024-01-21T09:59:08+01:00 Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status Oliver Barić Tena Radočaj Alexis Conides Nevena Kitanović Jurica Jug-Dujaković Ana Gavrilović 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121223 https://doaj.org/article/0849f48b155d4c2ebacac925d60c10b7 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/12/1223 https://doaj.org/toc/1424-2818 doi:10.3390/d15121223 1424-2818 https://doaj.org/article/0849f48b155d4c2ebacac925d60c10b7 Diversity, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 1223 (2023) yellow eel silver eel eel stock management Neretva delta eastern Adriatic morphometrics Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121223 2023-12-24T01:37:28Z In the area of the Neretva delta in the eastern Adriatic, where the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) has been traditionally fished for centuries, a decline in its population has been observed, as in most of Europe. Despite several studies, systematic monitoring was not performed, and the causes of population decline are attributed to anthropogenic stressors, mainly overfishing and interventions that disrupt the migration. With the stock at a low level, there is a need for a detailed assessment of biological data and the determination of the “zero state” of the eel population in the areas where monitoring was not previously performed, such as the Neretva delta. This data would serve as a basis for the development of an appropriate monitoring and eel management plan. One of the under-researched aspects is still the eel’s morphology, which is closely related to all basic life functions. The aim of this work was to analyze in detail the morphological parameters of yellow and silver eels from the mouth of the Neretva River in different seasons and the relationships between the measured morphometric parameters and physiological indicators and to compare them with previously published results for different life stages across Europe. The samples were collected during spring, summer and autumn of 2021, and winter of 2022. Yellow eels were present in the catch throughout the sampling period, while silver eels were caught in the autumn and winter. Yellow and silver eels were significantly different regarding 22 morphometric measures that were analyzed. Isometric growth was recorded for yellow eels in the spring and autumn of 2021, and positive allometric growth was recorded for yellow eels in the summer and silver eels in the autumn of 2021 and winter of 2022. PCA showed that the main factor that separates the eels grouped by life stage in different seasons is the intestine length (IL), whereas the rest of the factors (weight—W; intestine weight—IW; liver weight—LW; and total length—TL) affect the groupings ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Diversity 15 12 1223 |
institution |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
yellow eel silver eel eel stock management Neretva delta eastern Adriatic morphometrics Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
yellow eel silver eel eel stock management Neretva delta eastern Adriatic morphometrics Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Oliver Barić Tena Radočaj Alexis Conides Nevena Kitanović Jurica Jug-Dujaković Ana Gavrilović Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
topic_facet |
yellow eel silver eel eel stock management Neretva delta eastern Adriatic morphometrics Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
In the area of the Neretva delta in the eastern Adriatic, where the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) has been traditionally fished for centuries, a decline in its population has been observed, as in most of Europe. Despite several studies, systematic monitoring was not performed, and the causes of population decline are attributed to anthropogenic stressors, mainly overfishing and interventions that disrupt the migration. With the stock at a low level, there is a need for a detailed assessment of biological data and the determination of the “zero state” of the eel population in the areas where monitoring was not previously performed, such as the Neretva delta. This data would serve as a basis for the development of an appropriate monitoring and eel management plan. One of the under-researched aspects is still the eel’s morphology, which is closely related to all basic life functions. The aim of this work was to analyze in detail the morphological parameters of yellow and silver eels from the mouth of the Neretva River in different seasons and the relationships between the measured morphometric parameters and physiological indicators and to compare them with previously published results for different life stages across Europe. The samples were collected during spring, summer and autumn of 2021, and winter of 2022. Yellow eels were present in the catch throughout the sampling period, while silver eels were caught in the autumn and winter. Yellow and silver eels were significantly different regarding 22 morphometric measures that were analyzed. Isometric growth was recorded for yellow eels in the spring and autumn of 2021, and positive allometric growth was recorded for yellow eels in the summer and silver eels in the autumn of 2021 and winter of 2022. PCA showed that the main factor that separates the eels grouped by life stage in different seasons is the intestine length (IL), whereas the rest of the factors (weight—W; intestine weight—IW; liver weight—LW; and total length—TL) affect the groupings ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oliver Barić Tena Radočaj Alexis Conides Nevena Kitanović Jurica Jug-Dujaković Ana Gavrilović |
author_facet |
Oliver Barić Tena Radočaj Alexis Conides Nevena Kitanović Jurica Jug-Dujaković Ana Gavrilović |
author_sort |
Oliver Barić |
title |
Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
title_short |
Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
title_full |
Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
title_fullStr |
Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
title_full_unstemmed |
Functional Morphology as an Indicator of European Eel Population Status |
title_sort |
functional morphology as an indicator of european eel population status |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121223 https://doaj.org/article/0849f48b155d4c2ebacac925d60c10b7 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_source |
Diversity, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 1223 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/12/1223 https://doaj.org/toc/1424-2818 doi:10.3390/d15121223 1424-2818 https://doaj.org/article/0849f48b155d4c2ebacac925d60c10b7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121223 |
container_title |
Diversity |
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15 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1223 |
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