A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream
Migration allows animals to track the environmental conditions that maximize growth, survival, and reproduction [1, 2, 3]. Improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying migrations allows for improved management of species and ecosystems [1, 2, 3, 4]. For centuries, the catadromous European eel...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/242253 2023-05-15T13:27:19+02:00 A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream Naisbett-Jones, Lewis C. Putman, Nathan F. Stephenson, Jessica F. Ladak, Sam Young, Kyle A. 2017-04 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/242253 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 en eng Cell Press info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.015 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000399986500032 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/242253 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International CC-BY Current Biology, 27 (8) Anguilla anguilla Animal migration Animal navigation Magnetic orientation Ocean currents Sargasso Sea Sensory ecology info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2017 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/242253 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.015 2022-04-25T13:23:23Z Migration allows animals to track the environmental conditions that maximize growth, survival, and reproduction [1, 2, 3]. Improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying migrations allows for improved management of species and ecosystems [1, 2, 3, 4]. For centuries, the catadromous European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has provided one of Europe’s most important fisheries and has sparked considerable scientific inquiry, most recently owing to the dramatic collapse of juvenile recruitment [5]. Larval eels are transported by ocean currents associated with the Gulf Stream System from Sargasso Sea breeding grounds to coastal and freshwater habitats from North Africa to Scandinavia [6, 7]. After a decade or more, maturing adults migrate back to the Sargasso Sea, spawn, and die [8]. However, the migratory mechanisms that bring juvenile eels to Europe and return adults to the Sargasso Sea remain equivocal [9, 10]. Here, we used a “magnetic displacement” experiment [11, 12] to show that the orientation of juvenile eels varies in response to subtle differences in magnetic field intensity and inclination angle along their marine migration route. Simulations using an ocean circulation model revealed that even weakly swimming in the experimentally observed directions at the locations corresponding to the magnetic displacements would increase entrainment of juvenile eels into the Gulf Stream System. These findings provide new insight into the migration ecology and recruitment dynamics of eels and suggest that an adaptive magnetic map, tuned to large-scale features of ocean circulation, facilitates the vast oceanic migrations of the Anguilla genus [7, 13, 14]. ISSN:0960-9822 ISSN:1879-0445 Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla European eel ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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Open Polar |
collection |
ETH Zürich Research Collection |
op_collection_id |
ftethz |
language |
English |
topic |
Anguilla anguilla Animal migration Animal navigation Magnetic orientation Ocean currents Sargasso Sea Sensory ecology |
spellingShingle |
Anguilla anguilla Animal migration Animal navigation Magnetic orientation Ocean currents Sargasso Sea Sensory ecology Naisbett-Jones, Lewis C. Putman, Nathan F. Stephenson, Jessica F. Ladak, Sam Young, Kyle A. A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
topic_facet |
Anguilla anguilla Animal migration Animal navigation Magnetic orientation Ocean currents Sargasso Sea Sensory ecology |
description |
Migration allows animals to track the environmental conditions that maximize growth, survival, and reproduction [1, 2, 3]. Improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying migrations allows for improved management of species and ecosystems [1, 2, 3, 4]. For centuries, the catadromous European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has provided one of Europe’s most important fisheries and has sparked considerable scientific inquiry, most recently owing to the dramatic collapse of juvenile recruitment [5]. Larval eels are transported by ocean currents associated with the Gulf Stream System from Sargasso Sea breeding grounds to coastal and freshwater habitats from North Africa to Scandinavia [6, 7]. After a decade or more, maturing adults migrate back to the Sargasso Sea, spawn, and die [8]. However, the migratory mechanisms that bring juvenile eels to Europe and return adults to the Sargasso Sea remain equivocal [9, 10]. Here, we used a “magnetic displacement” experiment [11, 12] to show that the orientation of juvenile eels varies in response to subtle differences in magnetic field intensity and inclination angle along their marine migration route. Simulations using an ocean circulation model revealed that even weakly swimming in the experimentally observed directions at the locations corresponding to the magnetic displacements would increase entrainment of juvenile eels into the Gulf Stream System. These findings provide new insight into the migration ecology and recruitment dynamics of eels and suggest that an adaptive magnetic map, tuned to large-scale features of ocean circulation, facilitates the vast oceanic migrations of the Anguilla genus [7, 13, 14]. ISSN:0960-9822 ISSN:1879-0445 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Naisbett-Jones, Lewis C. Putman, Nathan F. Stephenson, Jessica F. Ladak, Sam Young, Kyle A. |
author_facet |
Naisbett-Jones, Lewis C. Putman, Nathan F. Stephenson, Jessica F. Ladak, Sam Young, Kyle A. |
author_sort |
Naisbett-Jones, Lewis C. |
title |
A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
title_short |
A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
title_full |
A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
title_fullStr |
A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Magnetic Map Leads Juvenile European Eels to the Gulf Stream |
title_sort |
magnetic map leads juvenile european eels to the gulf stream |
publisher |
Cell Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/242253 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_source |
Current Biology, 27 (8) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.015 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000399986500032 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/242253 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/242253 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000130641 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.015 |
_version_ |
1766397680423010304 |