- Published:
Biometric studies on premetamorphic eel larvae ofAnguilla anguilla (Anguilliformes: Anguillidae) in comparison with younger developmental stages of the species
Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen volume 50, pages 415–424 (1996)
Abstract
387 premetamorphic leptocephali of the familyAnguillidae caught off the west coast of Europe were examined taxonomically and compared with the youngest developmental stages of larvae ofAnguilla anguilla caught in the Sargasso Sea 1979 (Schoth, 1982). The total number of myomeres and the number of myomeres up to the third, opistonephritic blood vessel present features of this species which are significantly different from those of the larvae ofAnguilla rostrata and do not change during the whole larval phase. A combination of these two biometric features enables an infallible species identification of the AtlanticAnguilla larvae at all developmental stages. The number of predorsal and preanal myomeres, the preanal length and features of the head cannot be used for a distinction ofAnguilla larvae. One larva, 68.7 mm long, with 107 myomeres, and 44 myomeres to the opistonephritic blood vessel represents the hitherto southernmost record of anA. rostrata larva in the eastern North Atlantic.
Literature Cited
Avise, J. C., Helfman, G. S., Saunders, N. C. & Hales, L. S., 1986. Mitochondrial DNA differentiation in North Atlantic eels: Population genetic consequences of an unusual life history pattern. — Proc. ntn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.83, 4350–4354.
Avise, J. C., Nelson, W. S., Arnold, J., Koehn, R. K., Williams, G. C. & Thorsteinsson, V., 1990. The evolutionary genetic status of Icelandic eels. — Evolution44, 1254–1262.
Bast, H.-D. & Klinkhardt, M., 1987. Distribution of some mesopelagic fishes in the Iberian Basin (eastern central North Atlantic), Part I. — Wiss. Z. Univ. Rostock (R. Math. Naturwiss.)36, 57–64.
Bast, H.-D. & Strehlow, B., 1990. Length composition and abundance of eel larvae,Anguilla anguilla (Anguilliformes: Anguillidae), in the Iberian Basin (northeastern Atlantic) during July–September 1984. — Helgoländer Meeresunters.44, 353–361.
Berndt, O., 1938. Morphologie und Histologie des Rumpfdarmes vonAnguilla fluviatilis und die Veränderungen desselben im Individualzyklus. — Zool. Jb. (Anat. Ontogenie Tiere)64, 437–482.
Blache, J., 1977. Leptocephales des poissons anguilliformes dans la zone sud du Golfe de Guinée. —Faune trop.20, 1–381.
Böetius, I., 1980. AtlanticAnguilla — a presentation of old and new data of total numbers of vertebrae with a special reference to the occurrence ofAnguilla rostrata in Europe — Dana1, 93–112.
Castle, P. H. J., 1984. Elopiformes, Notacanthiformes and Anguilliformes. In: Ontogeny and systematics of fishes based on an International Symposium dedicated to the memory of Elbert H. Ahlstrom. Ed. by H. G. Moser & W. J. Richards. Allan, Lawrence, Ks, 94–102 (Spec. Publ. Am. Soc. Ichthyol. Herpet.1.).
Ege, W., 1939. A revision of the genusAnguilla (Shaw); a systematic, phylogenetic and geographical study. — Dana Rep.16, 1–256.
Ford, E., 1931. Changes in the length during the larval life and metamorphosis of the freshwater eel (Anguilla vulgaris Turt.). — J. mar. biol. Assoc. U. K.17, 987–1000.
Jespersen, P., 1942. Indo-Pacific leptocephalids of the genusAnguilla. — Dana Rep.22, 1–128.
Karmovskaya, E. S., 1990. Leptocephali of the eels of the genusNemichthys (Nemichthyidae, Anguilliformes). — Vopr. Ikhtiol.30, 551–563.
Kleckner, R. C. & McCleave, J. D., 1980. Spatial and temporal distribution ofAnguilla rostrata andAnguilla anguilla leptocephali found in North American ichthyoplankton collections. — C. M./ICES,M 21, 1–18.
Kleckner, R. C. & McCleave, J. D., 1985. Spatial and temporal distribution of American eel larvae in relation to North Atlantic Ocean current systems. — Dana4, 99–128.
Kracht, R., 1982. On the geographic distribution and migration of I- and II-group eel larvae as studied during the 1979 Sargasso Sea Expedition. — Helgoländer Meeresunters.35, 321–327.
Schmidt, J., 1909. Remarks on the metamorphosis and distribution of the larvae of the eel (Anguilla vulgaris, Turt.). — Meddr Kommn Havunders. (Ser. Fisk.)3(3), 1–17.
Schmidt, J., 1913. First report on eel investigations 1913. — Rapp. P.-v. Réun.18 (2), 1–29.
Schmidt, J., 1922. The breeding places of the eel. — Phil. Trans. R. Soc. (B)211, 179–208.
Schoth, M., 1982. Taxonomic studies on the 0-group eel larvae (Anguilla spec.), caught in the Sargasso Sea in 1979. — Helgoländer Meeresunters.35, 279–287.
Smith, D. J., 1979. Guide to the leptocephali (Elopiformes, Anguilliformes and Notacanthiformes). —NOAA tech. Rep. (NMFS Circ.)424, 1–39.
Smith, D. J., 1989. Family Anguillidae: Leptocephali. In: Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Ed. by E. B. Böhlke. Sears Foundn Mar. Res., Yale Univ, New Haven,9,2, 898–899.
Strehlow, B., 1988. Fischereibiologische Untersuchungen an Leptocephali aus dem Nordatlantik zwischen den Azoren und der Iberischen Halbinsel. Dipl.Arb., Univ. Rostock, 104 pp.
Strehlow, B., 1990. Untersuchungen an Leptocephali und adulten Exemplaren der Ordnung Anguilliformes aus dem Iberischen Becken und dem Seegebiet vor Nordwest-Afrika. Diss., Univ. Rostock, 210 pp.
Vladykov, V. D. & March, H., 1974. Distribution of leptocephali of the two species ofAnguilla in the western North Atlantic, based on the collections made between 1933–1968. — Syllogeus6, 1–38.
Williams, G. C. & Koehn, R. K., 1984. Population genetics of North Atlantic catadromous eels (Anguilla). In: Evolutionary genetics of fishes. Ed. by B. J. Turner. Plenum Press, New York, 529–560.
Williams, G. C., Koehn, R. K. & Thorsteinsson, V., 1984. Icelandic eels: Evidence for a single species ofAnguilla in the North Atlantic. — Copeia1984, 221–223.
Wippelhauser, G. S., McCleave, J. D. & Kleckner, R. C., 1985.Anguilla rostrata leptocephali in the Sargasso Sea during February and March 1981. — Dana4, 93–98.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Strehlow, B. Biometric studies on premetamorphic eel larvae ofAnguilla anguilla (Anguilliformes: Anguillidae) in comparison with younger developmental stages of the species. Helgolander Meeresunters 50, 415–424 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02367113
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02367113