Broader head, stronger bite : in vivo bite forces in European eel Anguilla anguilla

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: De Meyer, Jens, Herrel, Anthony, Belpaire, C, Goemans, G, Ide, C, De Kegel, Barbara, Christiaens, Joachim, Adriaens, Dominique
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Anguilla; bite force; dimorphism; feeding performance; FUNCTIONAL BASIS; MORPHOLOGY; PERFORMANCE; FISHES; MECHANICS; ONTOGENY; LIZARD; SHAPE; SIZE; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8539922; http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8539922; https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13511; https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8539922/file/8540189

This work examined three different phenotypes of the yellow-eel stage of the European eel Anguilla anguilla, broad-heads, narrow-heads and eels with an intermediate head shape. The aim was to see whether broad-headed A. anguilla, which generally consume harder, larger prey, such as crustaceans and fish, exerted greater bite force than the narrow-headed variant, which mainly consume soft, small prey such as chironomid larvae. It was found that in 99 yellow A. anguilla, in vivo bite force of broad-heads are higher compared with narrow-heads and intermediates.