First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea
The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is critically endangered (according to the most recent IUCN assessment) and has suffered a 95% decline in recruitment since the 1980s, attributed in part to factors occurring during the marine phases of its life-cycle. As an adult, the European eel undertakes the...
Published in: | Scientific Reports |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Research
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6524 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 |
id |
ftunivacores:oai:repositorio.uac.pt:10400.3/6524 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivacores:oai:repositorio.uac.pt:10400.3/6524 2023-05-15T13:27:14+02:00 First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea Wright, Rosalind M. Piper, Adam T. Aarestrup, Kim Azevedo, José M. N. Cowan, George Don, Andy Gollock, Matthew Rodriguez Ramallo, Sara Velterop, Randolph Walker, Alan Westerberg, Håkan Righton, David 2022-10 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6524 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 eng eng Nature Research https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-19248-8 Wright, R.M., Piper, A.T., Aarestrup, K., Azevedo, J.M.N., Cowan, G., Don, A., . & Righton, D. (2022). First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea. "Scientific Reports", 12, 15362. DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6524 doi:10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 PMC9562336 36229475 000867889200027 openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Anguilla anguilla Animal Migration Atlantic Ocean article 2022 ftunivacores https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 2022-12-28T01:01:56Z The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is critically endangered (according to the most recent IUCN assessment) and has suffered a 95% decline in recruitment since the 1980s, attributed in part to factors occurring during the marine phases of its life-cycle. As an adult, the European eel undertakes the longest spawning migration of all anguillid eels, a distance of 5000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea. However, despite the passage of almost 100 years since Johannes Schmidt proposed the Sargasso Sea as the breeding place of European eels on the basis of larval surveys, no eggs or spawning adults have ever been sampled there to confirm this. Fundamental questions therefore remain about the oceanic migration of adult eels, including navigation mechanisms, the routes taken, timings of arrival, swimming speed and spawning locations. We attached satellite tags to 26 eels from rivers in the Azores archipelago and tracked them for periods between 40 and 366 days at speeds between 3 and 12 km day−1, and provide the first direct evidence of adult European eels reaching their presumed breeding place in the Sargasso Sea. Funding was provided by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Environment Agency (England) and the Oceano Azul Foundation (Eel Trek Project). Partner organisations, the Azores Government and volunteer contributions are also gratefully acknowledged. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Repositório da Universidade dos Açores Scientific Reports 12 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Repositório da Universidade dos Açores |
op_collection_id |
ftunivacores |
language |
English |
topic |
Anguilla anguilla Animal Migration Atlantic Ocean |
spellingShingle |
Anguilla anguilla Animal Migration Atlantic Ocean Wright, Rosalind M. Piper, Adam T. Aarestrup, Kim Azevedo, José M. N. Cowan, George Don, Andy Gollock, Matthew Rodriguez Ramallo, Sara Velterop, Randolph Walker, Alan Westerberg, Håkan Righton, David First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
topic_facet |
Anguilla anguilla Animal Migration Atlantic Ocean |
description |
The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is critically endangered (according to the most recent IUCN assessment) and has suffered a 95% decline in recruitment since the 1980s, attributed in part to factors occurring during the marine phases of its life-cycle. As an adult, the European eel undertakes the longest spawning migration of all anguillid eels, a distance of 5000 to 10,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea. However, despite the passage of almost 100 years since Johannes Schmidt proposed the Sargasso Sea as the breeding place of European eels on the basis of larval surveys, no eggs or spawning adults have ever been sampled there to confirm this. Fundamental questions therefore remain about the oceanic migration of adult eels, including navigation mechanisms, the routes taken, timings of arrival, swimming speed and spawning locations. We attached satellite tags to 26 eels from rivers in the Azores archipelago and tracked them for periods between 40 and 366 days at speeds between 3 and 12 km day−1, and provide the first direct evidence of adult European eels reaching their presumed breeding place in the Sargasso Sea. Funding was provided by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Environment Agency (England) and the Oceano Azul Foundation (Eel Trek Project). Partner organisations, the Azores Government and volunteer contributions are also gratefully acknowledged. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wright, Rosalind M. Piper, Adam T. Aarestrup, Kim Azevedo, José M. N. Cowan, George Don, Andy Gollock, Matthew Rodriguez Ramallo, Sara Velterop, Randolph Walker, Alan Westerberg, Håkan Righton, David |
author_facet |
Wright, Rosalind M. Piper, Adam T. Aarestrup, Kim Azevedo, José M. N. Cowan, George Don, Andy Gollock, Matthew Rodriguez Ramallo, Sara Velterop, Randolph Walker, Alan Westerberg, Håkan Righton, David |
author_sort |
Wright, Rosalind M. |
title |
First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
title_short |
First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
title_full |
First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
title_fullStr |
First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea |
title_sort |
first direct evidence of adult european eels migrating to their breeding place in the sargasso sea |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6524 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_relation |
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-19248-8 Wright, R.M., Piper, A.T., Aarestrup, K., Azevedo, J.M.N., Cowan, G., Don, A., . & Righton, D. (2022). First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea. "Scientific Reports", 12, 15362. DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6524 doi:10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 PMC9562336 36229475 000867889200027 |
op_rights |
openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19248-8 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766397275218640896 |