Spawning of eels near a seamount (original) (raw)

• Brief Communication
• Published: 22 February 2006

Oceanic biology

Nature volume 439, page 929 (2006) Cite this article

• 4798 Accesses
• 232 Citations
• 22 Altmetric
• Metrics details

Tiny transparent larvae of the Japanese eel collected in the open ocean reveal a strategic spawning site.

Abstract

Discoveries of the larvae of the European and American eels, Anguilla anguilla and A. rostrata, in the Sargasso Sea1,2 and of the Japanese eel, A. japonica, in the Philippine Sea3 indicate that these freshwater eels migrate thousands of kilometres into the open ocean to spawn. Here we pinpoint a spawning location for Japanese eels after genetically identifying newly hatched larvae that we collected from the site. The restricted size of this spawning area ensures that the eel larvae enter a particular current that transports them to the freshwater areas in east Asia where they mature, and it also prevents them from being carried southwards away from their species range by a different local current.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

• Purchase on SpringerLink
• Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

• Log in
• Learn about institutional subscriptions
• Read our FAQs
• Contact customer support

Figure 1: Collection sites of small eel larvae.

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Figure 2: Japanese eel pre-leptocephali at different stages of development.

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

1. Schmidt, J. Smithson. Inst. Annu. Rep. 1924, 279–316 (1925).
   Google Scholar
2. McCleave, J. D., Kleckner, R. C. & Castonguay, M. Am. Fish. Soc. Symp. 1, 286–297 (1987).
   Google Scholar
3. Tsukamoto, K. Nature 356, 789–791 (1992).
   Article ADS Google Scholar
4. Kimura, S., Inoue, T. & Sugimoto, T. Fish. Oceanogr. 10, 51–60 (2001).
   Article Google Scholar
5. Dekker, W. Fisheries 28, 28–30 (2003).
   Google Scholar
6. Tsukamoto, K. et al. Environ. Biol. Fish. 66, 221–229 (2003).
   Article Google Scholar
7. Watanabe, S. et al. Mar. Biotechnol. 6, 566–574 (2004).
   Article CAS Google Scholar
8. Aoyama, J. et al. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 188, 193–200 (1999).
   Article ADS Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan
   Katsumi Tsukamoto

Corresponding author

Correspondence toKatsumi Tsukamoto.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tsukamoto, K. Spawning of eels near a seamount.Nature 439, 929 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439929a

Download citation

• Received: 18 November 2005
• Accepted: 02 February 2006
• Published: 22 February 2006
• Issue date: 23 February 2006
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/439929a

This article is cited by