Sammanfattning

Recent developments in tracking technology resulted in the mapping of various marine spawning migration routes of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). However, migration routes in the North Sea have rarely been studied, despite many large European rivers and hence potential eel growing habitat discharge into the North Sea. In this study, we present the most comprehensive map to date with migration routes by silver European eels in the North Sea and document for the first time successful eel migration through the English Channel. Migration tracks were reconstructed for 42 eels tagged in Belgium and 12 in Germany. Additionally, some eels moved up north to exit the North Sea over the British Isles, confirming the existence of two different routes, even for eels exiting from a single river catchment. Furthermore, we observed a wide range in migration speeds (6.8-45.2 km day(-1)). We hypothesize that these are likely attributed to water currents, with eels migrating through the English Channel being significantly faster than eels migrating northward.

Publicerad i

Scientific Reports
2022, Volym: 12, nummer: 1, artikelnummer: 318
Utgivare: NATURE PORTFOLIO

SLU författare

• Westerberg, Håkan

  • Institutionen för akvatiska resurser (SLU Aqua), Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Globala målen

Bevara och nyttja haven och de marina resurserna på ett hållbart sätt för en hållbar utveckling


UKÄ forskningsämne

Ekologi
Oceanografi, hydrologi, vattenresurser


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04052-7

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115921