Role of estuarine habitats for the feeding ecology of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.)

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Denis, Jérémy, Rabhi, Khalef, Le Loc’h, François, Boutin, Kévin, Kazour, Maria, Diop, Mamadou, Gruselle, Marie-Christine, Ben Rais Lasram, Frida, Amara, Rachid
• Other Authors: Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Nord ), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Office français de la biodiversité (OFB)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-04237373; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270348

International audience This study aims to characterize and compare the feeding ecology of the European eels ( Anguilla anguilla L.) during the continental phase (i.e. yellow and silver) along a salinity gradient (i.e. lower, middle and upper) in six northern France estuaries (i.e. brackish water). The diet and stable isotopic (i.e. δ 15 N and δ 13 C values) compositions of eels collected with a fyke net in six estuaries (Slack, Wimereux, Liane, Canche, Authie and Somme estuaries) located along the French coast of the eastern English Channel per season over a year were described by combining gut content and stable isotope analyses. Eel guts were dominated by typical BW prey, Malacostraca and Actinopterygii (54% and 40%, respectively), with the gammare Gammarus zaddachi and the green crab Carcinus maenas (38% and 14%, respectively), and smaller yellow eels of A . anguilla and juvenile European flounder, Platichthys flesus (19% and 14%, respectively) being the most frequently found in their guts. The δ 13 C values of a majority of eels confirmed the sea- and brackish water-specific carbon resources. Dietary and isotopic niche revealed no clear change between total length, silvering stages and seasons, but a significant difference between salinity gradients and estuaries. Eels δ 13 C values showed significant enrichment from upper to lower along the estuaries while the δ 15 N values showed an inverse effect, with the lowest values in the lower part and highest in the upper part. Higher variability in δ 13 C values in larger estuaries suggested that eels feed on a wide range of food sources than in smaller estuaries. While eels in the smaller estuaries fed mainly on Actinopterygii prey, eels in the larger ones had a lower trophic level (i.e. δ 15 N values) and fed mainly on Malacostraca prey. This spatial difference in dietary and isotopic niche is discussed in relation to biological structure of eel and environmental variables.