Modeling the drift of European (Anguilla anguilla) and American (Anguilla rostrata) eel larvae during the year of spawning

• Main Authors: Westerberg, Håkan, Pacariz, Selma, Marohn, Lasse, Fagerström, Vilhelm, Wysujack, Klaus, Miller, Michael J., Freese, Marko, Pohlmann, Jan-Dag, Hanel, Reinhold
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2017
• Subjects: Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/78768; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0256

The distribution of the leptocephalus larvae of the European and American eel collected during recent Sargasso Sea surveys, was used to model the larval drift. The drift trajectories of individual larvae were back-calculated to the estimated time of spawning, using current data from two global oceanographic assimilation models. The results of both models give the same overall result; widespread spawning extended in time from December to March. The drift was also calculated forwards for approximately one year. The forward drift modeling showed that most leptocephali remained in the area south of the Subtropical Frontal Zone. One conclusion is that the majority of leptocephali remains trapped and possibly dies in the retention area. A small proportion of leptocephali are entrained into the Gulf Stream system. An implication is that the spawning success may be highly sensitive to oceanographic and climatic factors that alter the dispersion of leptocephali out from the retention area. An alternative interpretation is that the surveys were made too late after the peak spawning period and that the core spawning area was missed. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.