Sex differentiation and sex determination in eels : consequences for management

• Published in: Fish and Fisheries
• Main Authors: Geffroy, Benjamin, Bardonnet, Agnes
• Other Authors: Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA), ICNHS Instituto de Ciencias Naturais Humanas e Sociais, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Nucleo de Estudos de Biodiversidade da Amazonia Mato-grossense (NEBAM), Benjamin Geffroy is supported by a CAPES-Ci^encia Sem Fronteiras, grant A045_2013. The project was supported by funding from the Office National de l’Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques (ONEMA) and by the Interreg IV B Atlantic area transnational programme (European Regional Development Fund), in the context of the Arc Atlantic Resource Conservation (AARC) programme
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: management; growth rate; eel; cortisol; sex determination; sex differentiation; anguillidae; sexual differentiation; growth; cycle de vie; différenciation sexuelle; anguilla japonica; anguilla rostrata; anguilla anguilla; reproduction; détermination du sexe; croissance; [SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01901346; https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12113

International audience The aim of this review is to present an overview of the sex differentiation and sex determination processes in eels in relation to the urgent need to provide scientific knowledge to better protect and manage the Anguilla genus. Indeed, the global decline of the three main temperate eel stocks, Anguilla anguilla, Anguillidae (Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2003, 10, 365); Anguilla japonica, Anguillidae (Casselman, Eel Biology, Springer Japan, 2003, 293) and Anguilla rostrata, Anguillidae (Tatsukawa, Eel Biology, Springer, Japan, 2003, 255), raises concerns about the necessity to better understand all stages of the life cycle of eels (Righton and Walker, Journal of Fish Biology, 2013, 83, 754). Little is known about the mechanisms involved in the production of males and females in this species with environmental sex determination. Previous reviews identifying the density of individuals as the major factor influencing sex determination were undertaken (Krueger and Oliveira, Environmental Biology of Fishes, 1999, 55, 381; Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 2005, 15, 37). Here, we review the current advances on the subject, focusing on the roles of early growth rate and interindividual relationships, which are mechanisms underpinned by density, as well as the sex differentiation process, and we question how this knowledge might influence global conservation measures