Migrating silver eels return from the sea to the river of origin after a false start
Laen...
Kuupäev
2021
Kättesaadav alates
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
The Royal Society
Abstrakt
The European eel’s singular spawning migration from European waters
towards the Sargasso Sea remains elusive, including the early phase of
migration at sea. During spawning migration, the movement of freshwater resident eels from river to sea has been thought to be irreversible. We report the first
recorded incidents of eels returning to the river of origin after spending up to a
year in the marine environment. After migrating to the Baltic Sea, 21% of the
silver eels, tagged with acoustic transmitters, returned to the Narva River.
Half returned 11–12 months after moving to the sea, with 15 km being the long-
est upstream movement. The returned eels spent up to 33 days in the river and
migrated to the sea again. The fastest specimen migrated to the outlet of the
Baltic Sea in 68 days after the second start—roughly 1300 km. The surprising
occurrence of returning migrants has implications for sustainable management
and protection of this critically endangered species.
This study was financed by European Fisheries and Maritime Fund project L180152PKKH and Estonia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 project ER80.
This study was financed by European Fisheries and Maritime Fund project L180152PKKH and Estonia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 project ER80.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
behavioural diversity, conservation strategy, European eel, management, spawning migration, telemetry, articles