Does a 5500-km swim trial stimulate early sexual maturation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.)?

Ginneken, Vincent van; Dufour, Sylvie; Sbaihi, Miskal; Balm, P.H.M.; Noorlander, Kees; Bakker, Merijn A. G. de; Doornbos, Johannes; Palstra, Arjan P.; Antonissen, E.; Mayer, Ian; Thillart, G. van den

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.03.021

Cited by 44 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The body weight of the females (90.5 and 117.5 g) was much smaller than those of female silver eels of similar body length caught along the coast of Japan (129-1,843 g) [16,22] and in the East China Sea (82.7-1,961 g; including male data) [23]. Considering the remarkably high swimming efficiency and low energy costs during their spawning migration, as has been shown theoretically and experimentally in European eels [24][25][26], this reduction in body weight is likely the result of not only reduced energy consumption during their long-distance migration without feeding, but also of gonadal development for the production of eggs. The severe body weight loss, degenerated organs, and poor body condition of the studied females indicated that they were in the process of dying after spawning.…”

Section: Spawning Area Along the West Mariana Ridgementioning

confidence: 76%

First capture of post-spawning female of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica at the southern West Mariana Ridge

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two adult male freshwater eels, Anguilla japonica, were captured in June 2008 in the West Mariana Ridge (13°N, 142°E) in the North Pacific, but collections of females have yet to be reported. In September 2008, we successfully caught two adult female A. japonica, 55.5 and 66.2 cm in total length, in the adjacent but northern area (14°N, 143°E). Six newly hatched eel larvae (pre-leptocephali) were also collected by subsequent plankton sampling conducted near the female catch area. Female adults appeared to be in the post-spawning state, probably a considerable time after spawning, since a small number of remarkably regressed oocytes (50-250 lm in diameter) were observed in the ovaries. Capture of post-spawning female eels and newly hatched larvae near the Suruga Seamount (14°N) together with the previous collection of mature males in the southern area (13°N) corroborates that the area along the West Mariana Ridge is the spawning area of this species, but suggests that the eel spawning may occur over a wider area than previously expected.

show abstract

Section: Spawning Area Along the West Mariana Ridgementioning

confidence: 76%

First capture of post-spawning female of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica at the southern West Mariana Ridge

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…period (weeks)Migr. distance (km)EIGSRef(a) FW trialsLake Balaton (Hu)40f16*1<3000Stage 3Palstra et al (2007a)River Loire (Fr)20f16 ± 41<300*Palstra et al (2008a)Lake Balaton (Hu)6f16 ± 12350*Stage 3Palstra et al (2007a)Lake Balaton (Hu)9f16 ± 361,100*Stage 3Palstra et al (2007a)Farm6f562,200*Stage 3Palstra et al (2006a)Farm15f3255,5000Stage 3van Ginneken et al (2007a)(b) SW trialsLake Grevelingen (NL)20f11 ± 40.6<3000Palstra et al (2008a)Lake Grevelingen (NL)6f8 ± 241,2000…”

Section: Interaction Between Swimming and Sexual Maturationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…4; van Ginneken et al 2007a). FW-swimming thus stimulates gonadotropin production by the pituitary but it is still unclear whether secretion is also stimulated.…”

Section: Interaction Between Swimming and Sexual Maturationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, esr1 -, vtg1 - and vtg2 -expression were reduced in the livers of swimming females (Palstra et al 2010). Secondly, plasma Vtg was repeatedly determined as not detectable and plasma Ca as not elevated in swimming females (van Ginneken et al 2007a and Palstra et al 2010). Thirdly, oocytes of swimming females from Lake Balaton (Palstra et al 2007a), Lake Grevelingen (Palstra et al unpublished data) and the river Loire (Palstra et al unpublished data) did not contain any yolk globuli and were all smaller than 250 μm, the border for switching to stage 4 vitellogenic oocytes.…”

Section: Interaction Between Swimming and Sexual Maturationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Swimming physiology of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla L.): energetic costs and effects on sexual maturation and reproduction

Palstra

Thillart

2010

Fish Physiol Biochem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The European eel migrates 5,000–6,000 km to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce. Because they venture into the ocean in a pre-pubertal state and reproduce after swimming for months, a strong interaction between swimming and sexual maturation is expected. Many swimming trials have been performed in 22 swim tunnels to elucidate their performance and the impact on maturation. European eels are able to swim long distances at a cost of 10–12 mg fat/km which is 4–6 times more efficient than salmonids. The total energy costs of reproduction correspond to 67% of the fat stores. During long distance swimming, the body composition stays the same showing that energy consumption calculations cannot be based on fat alone but need to be compensated for protein oxidation. The optimal swimming speed is 0.61–0.67 m s−1, which is ~60% higher than the generally assumed cruise speed of 0.4 m s−1 and implies that female eels may reach the Sargasso Sea within 3.5 months instead of the assumed 6 months. Swimming trials showed lipid deposition and oocyte growth, which are the first steps of sexual maturation. To investigate effects of oceanic migration on maturation, we simulated group-wise migration in a large swim-gutter with seawater. These trials showed suppressed gonadotropin expression and vitellogenesis in females, while in contrast continued sexual maturation was observed in silver males. The induction of lipid deposition in the oocytes and the inhibition of vitellogenesis by swimming in females suggest a natural sequence of events quite different from artificial maturation protocols.

show abstract

“…However, little is known regarding the maturation process containing endocrine conditions without exogenous hormone treatments because the majority of oocyte development occurs during the spawning migration, which has yet to be described in anguilliform fishes. There are a number of studies addressing how environmental factors influence gonadal development in these species without exogenous hormonal treatments, such as in the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (Boëtius and Boëtius, 1967;Fontaine and Dufour, 1991;Nilsson et al, 1981;Sébert et al, 2007;van Ginneken et al, 2007), and the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica (Kagawa et al, 1998). However, these experiments showed that it was difficult to advance gonadal development to the maturational stage without exogenous hormone treatments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water temperature manipulation can induce oocyte maturation and ovulation in the common Japanese conger, Conger myriaster

Utoh¹,

Horie²,

Okamura³

et al. 2013

Aquaculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Does a 5500-km swim trial stimulate early sexual maturation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.)?

Cited by 44 publications

References 41 publications

First capture of post-spawning female of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica at the southern West Mariana Ridge

First capture of post-spawning female of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica at the southern West Mariana Ridge

Swimming physiology of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla L.): energetic costs and effects on sexual maturation and reproduction

Water temperature manipulation can induce oocyte maturation and ovulation in the common Japanese conger, Conger myriaster

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About