Timing and pattern of annual silver eel migration in two European watersheds are determined by similar cues.

ABSTRACT: Many animals perform long-distance migrations in order to maximize lifetime reproductive success. The European eel migrates several thousand kilometers between their feeding habitats in continental waters (fresh-, brackish, and sea water) and their spawning area in the Sargasso Sea. Eels residing in freshwaters usually initiate their spawning migration as silver eels during autumn, triggered by diverse environmental cues. We analyzed the time series of silver eel downstream migration in Burrishoole, Ireland (1971-2015), and Imsa, Norway (1975-2015), to examine factors regulating the silver eel migration from freshwater to the sea. The migration season (90% of the run) generally lasted from 1 August to 30 November. Environmental factors acting in the months before migration impacted timing

SUBMITTER: Sandlund OT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5551103 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature