Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla
The spawning migration of the European eel is an extensive journey over 5000 to 7000 km from the European coast to the Sargasso Sea. Eels do not feed during this journey and on-board fuels must be sufficient to support the journey of 3.5 to 6 month, as well as sexual maturation and the spawning acti...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9e62a431fa884606926a0123e9631e20 2023-05-15T13:28:21+02:00 Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla Bernd ePelster 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 https://doaj.org/article/9e62a431fa884606926a0123e9631e20 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X 1664-042X doi:10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 https://doaj.org/article/9e62a431fa884606926a0123e9631e20 Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 5 (2015) Spawning Migration European eel Buoyancy swimbladder function rete mirabile gas gland cells Physiology QP1-981 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 2022-12-30T21:46:22Z The spawning migration of the European eel is an extensive journey over 5000 to 7000 km from the European coast to the Sargasso Sea. Eels do not feed during this journey and on-board fuels must be sufficient to support the journey of 3.5 to 6 month, as well as sexual maturation and the spawning activity. Swimming of eels appears to be quite energy efficient compared to other fish species, and elevated hydrostatic pressure has been shown to even reduce the costs of transport. Recent studies revealed, however, that during travelling eels perform extensive diurnal migrations and swim at a depth of about 100-300 m at night time, but go down to 600-1000 m at day time. At a depth of 200 m eels are exposed to a hydrostatic pressure of 21 atmospheres (2.13 MPa), while at 800 m hydrostatic pressure increases to 81 atmospheres (8.21 MPa). Accordingly, without any compensation at a depth of 800 m swimbladder volume will be reduced to about 25 % of the volume established with neutral buoyancy at 200 m. Consequently, these diurnal changes in depth must be taken into consideration for a calculation of the energy requirements of the spawning migration. Without compensation a compression of the swimbladder will result in a status of negative buoyancy, which makes swimming more costly. Trying to keep the status of neutral buoyancy during descent by gas secretion into the swimbladder in turn requires metabolic activity to enhance swimbladder perfusion and for acid production of the gas gland cells to stimulate gas secretion. During ascent gas is passively removed from the swimbladder in the resorbing section and in the blood transported to the gills, where it is lost into the water. Accordingly, the swimbladder appears to be a crucial organ for the spawning migration. It can be assumed that an impairment of swimbladder function for example due to an infection with the nematode Anguillicola crassus significantly threatens the success of the spawning migration. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla European eel Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Physiology 5 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Spawning Migration European eel Buoyancy swimbladder function rete mirabile gas gland cells Physiology QP1-981 |
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Spawning Migration European eel Buoyancy swimbladder function rete mirabile gas gland cells Physiology QP1-981 Bernd ePelster Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
topic_facet |
Spawning Migration European eel Buoyancy swimbladder function rete mirabile gas gland cells Physiology QP1-981 |
description |
The spawning migration of the European eel is an extensive journey over 5000 to 7000 km from the European coast to the Sargasso Sea. Eels do not feed during this journey and on-board fuels must be sufficient to support the journey of 3.5 to 6 month, as well as sexual maturation and the spawning activity. Swimming of eels appears to be quite energy efficient compared to other fish species, and elevated hydrostatic pressure has been shown to even reduce the costs of transport. Recent studies revealed, however, that during travelling eels perform extensive diurnal migrations and swim at a depth of about 100-300 m at night time, but go down to 600-1000 m at day time. At a depth of 200 m eels are exposed to a hydrostatic pressure of 21 atmospheres (2.13 MPa), while at 800 m hydrostatic pressure increases to 81 atmospheres (8.21 MPa). Accordingly, without any compensation at a depth of 800 m swimbladder volume will be reduced to about 25 % of the volume established with neutral buoyancy at 200 m. Consequently, these diurnal changes in depth must be taken into consideration for a calculation of the energy requirements of the spawning migration. Without compensation a compression of the swimbladder will result in a status of negative buoyancy, which makes swimming more costly. Trying to keep the status of neutral buoyancy during descent by gas secretion into the swimbladder in turn requires metabolic activity to enhance swimbladder perfusion and for acid production of the gas gland cells to stimulate gas secretion. During ascent gas is passively removed from the swimbladder in the resorbing section and in the blood transported to the gills, where it is lost into the water. Accordingly, the swimbladder appears to be a crucial organ for the spawning migration. It can be assumed that an impairment of swimbladder function for example due to an infection with the nematode Anguillicola crassus significantly threatens the success of the spawning migration. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bernd ePelster |
author_facet |
Bernd ePelster |
author_sort |
Bernd ePelster |
title |
Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
title_short |
Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
title_full |
Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
title_fullStr |
Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
title_full_unstemmed |
Swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the European eel Anguilla anguilla |
title_sort |
swimbladder function and the spawning migration of the european eel anguilla anguilla |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 https://doaj.org/article/9e62a431fa884606926a0123e9631e20 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_source |
Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 5 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X 1664-042X doi:10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 https://doaj.org/article/9e62a431fa884606926a0123e9631e20 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00486 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Physiology |
container_volume |
5 |
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1766403601514627072 |