Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels
Anguillid freshwater eels show remarkable life histories. In the Atlantic, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and American eel (Anguilla rostrata) undertake extensive migrations to spawn in the oceanic Sargasso Sea, and subsequently the offspring drift to foraging areas in Europe and North America...
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ftunivleuven:oai:lirias.kuleuven.be:123456789/299187 2023-05-15T13:27:14+02:00 Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels Munk, Peter Hansen, Michael M Maes, Gregory Nielsen, Torkel G Castonguay, Martin Riemann, Lasse Sparholt, Henrik Als, Thomas D Aarestrup, Kim Andersen, Nikolaj G Bachler, Mirjam 2010-12 https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/299187 en eng Printed for the Royal Society and sold by Harrison & Sons 6-9 CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, LONDON SW1Y 5AG, ENGLAND Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences vol:277 issue:1700 pages:3593-3599 https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/299187 0962-8452 1471-2954 european eel american eel larval drift oceanic fronts sargasso sea subtropical counter current anguilla-anguilla thermal fronts leptocephali migration recruitment rostrata Description (Metadata) only IT article 2010 ftunivleuven 2015-12-22T16:08:20Z Anguillid freshwater eels show remarkable life histories. In the Atlantic, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and American eel (Anguilla rostrata) undertake extensive migrations to spawn in the oceanic Sargasso Sea, and subsequently the offspring drift to foraging areas in Europe and North America, first as leaf-like leptocephali larvae that later metamorphose into glass eels. Since recruitment of European and American glass eels has declined drastically during past decades, there is a strong demand for further understanding of the early, oceanic phase of their life cycle. Consequently, during a field expedition to the eel spawning sites in the Sargasso Sea, we carried out a wide range of dedicated bio-physical studies across areas of eel larval distribution. Our findings suggest a key role of oceanic frontal processes, retaining eel larvae within a zone of enhanced feeding conditions and steering their drift. The majority of the more westerly distributed American eel larvae are likely to follow a westerly/northerly drift route entrained in the Antilles/Florida Currents. European eel larvae are generally believed to initially follow the same route, but their more easterly distribution close to the eastward flowing Subtropical Counter Current indicates that these larvae could follow a shorter, eastward route towards the Azores and Europe. The findings emphasize the significance of oceanic physical-biological linkages in the life-cycle completion of Atlantic eels. status: published Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla KU Leuven: Lirias |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
KU Leuven: Lirias |
op_collection_id |
ftunivleuven |
language |
English |
topic |
european eel american eel larval drift oceanic fronts sargasso sea subtropical counter current anguilla-anguilla thermal fronts leptocephali migration recruitment rostrata |
spellingShingle |
european eel american eel larval drift oceanic fronts sargasso sea subtropical counter current anguilla-anguilla thermal fronts leptocephali migration recruitment rostrata Munk, Peter Hansen, Michael M Maes, Gregory Nielsen, Torkel G Castonguay, Martin Riemann, Lasse Sparholt, Henrik Als, Thomas D Aarestrup, Kim Andersen, Nikolaj G Bachler, Mirjam Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
topic_facet |
european eel american eel larval drift oceanic fronts sargasso sea subtropical counter current anguilla-anguilla thermal fronts leptocephali migration recruitment rostrata |
description |
Anguillid freshwater eels show remarkable life histories. In the Atlantic, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and American eel (Anguilla rostrata) undertake extensive migrations to spawn in the oceanic Sargasso Sea, and subsequently the offspring drift to foraging areas in Europe and North America, first as leaf-like leptocephali larvae that later metamorphose into glass eels. Since recruitment of European and American glass eels has declined drastically during past decades, there is a strong demand for further understanding of the early, oceanic phase of their life cycle. Consequently, during a field expedition to the eel spawning sites in the Sargasso Sea, we carried out a wide range of dedicated bio-physical studies across areas of eel larval distribution. Our findings suggest a key role of oceanic frontal processes, retaining eel larvae within a zone of enhanced feeding conditions and steering their drift. The majority of the more westerly distributed American eel larvae are likely to follow a westerly/northerly drift route entrained in the Antilles/Florida Currents. European eel larvae are generally believed to initially follow the same route, but their more easterly distribution close to the eastward flowing Subtropical Counter Current indicates that these larvae could follow a shorter, eastward route towards the Azores and Europe. The findings emphasize the significance of oceanic physical-biological linkages in the life-cycle completion of Atlantic eels. status: published |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Munk, Peter Hansen, Michael M Maes, Gregory Nielsen, Torkel G Castonguay, Martin Riemann, Lasse Sparholt, Henrik Als, Thomas D Aarestrup, Kim Andersen, Nikolaj G Bachler, Mirjam |
author_facet |
Munk, Peter Hansen, Michael M Maes, Gregory Nielsen, Torkel G Castonguay, Martin Riemann, Lasse Sparholt, Henrik Als, Thomas D Aarestrup, Kim Andersen, Nikolaj G Bachler, Mirjam |
author_sort |
Munk, Peter |
title |
Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
title_short |
Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
title_full |
Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
title_fullStr |
Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oceanic fronts in the Sargasso Sea control the early life and drift of Atlantic eels |
title_sort |
oceanic fronts in the sargasso sea control the early life and drift of atlantic eels |
publisher |
Printed for the Royal Society and sold by Harrison & Sons |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/299187 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_relation |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Biological Sciences vol:277 issue:1700 pages:3593-3599 https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/299187 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
_version_ |
1766397263185182720 |