Silver European eels health in Mediterranean habitats

• Published in: Ecology of Freshwater Fish
• Main Authors: Amilhat, Elsa, Fazio, Géraldine, Simon, Gaël, Manetti, Marc, Paris, Séverine, Delahaut, Laurence, Farrugio, Henri, Lecomte-Finiger, Raymonde, Sasal, Pierre, Faliex, Elisabeth
• Other Authors: Centre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditérranéens (CEFREM), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Unknown, Unité de Recherche Interactions Animal-Environnement - EA 4689 (IAE), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques La Rochelle-L'Houmeau ( LRHLR), Unité Halieutique Gascogne Sud (HGS), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement (CRIOBE), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de formation et de recherche en environnement marin (CEFREM)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: Anguilla anguilla; Mediterranean lagoons; silver eel; contamination; spawner quality; pathogens; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
• Online Access: https://univ-perp.hal.science/hal-01265895; https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12077

International audience The degradation in the quality of silver eel and their health could have been a major factor in the collapse of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) population. However, the health status of the spawners has been poorly studied until now. This study evaluated the quality of migrant male silver eels from four Mediterranean habitats in France presenting different degrees of contamination: Canet-Saint-Nazaire, Salses-Leucate and Bages-Sigean lagoons and La Berre River. We considered pathogens including Anguillicoloides crassus and EVEX virus and the concentration of chemical contaminants including PCBs, OCs and heavy metals. Our study results revealed different patterns of pollution and infection in the four habitats, with high individual variability. No single silver eel was free of pollution. Total dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and copper contaminations, as well as the Swim bladder Degenerative Index (induced by parasitism), were remarkably high in eels from Canet lagoon, while eels from Salses lagoon showed lower levels of contaminants and parasite infection. A non-negligible proportion of eels were strongly impacted with levels of contaminants/parasites that could potentially impair their migration and reproduction. Our study revealed low to moderate contamination levels compared with the other Mediterranean sites previously reported, except for high concentrations of DDTs and Cu in Canet lagoon. We discuss the contribution of these results in the context of possible implications for silver eels reproductive success and local eel population management.