Gonad differentiation and body growth in Anguilla anguilla L.

Abstract

Using histological sections, the gonads of samples of yellow and silver eels of two populations were examined. The populations were previously analysed for growth and sex ratio. The histological structures observed are similar to those described in previous publications for the European eel, Anguilla anguilla and to those indicated for the Pacific eel, A. japonica. Well differentiated gonads are present in the silver eels. In the yellow eels, ranging in age from 0 + to 2 + years and from a length of 20 cm to that at which they become silver, undif‐ferentiated and both sex gonads are found. Histological evidence is presented which suggests that the ovary, found even in young and small eels, is completely differentiated at a very early stage. The testis‐like gonad of the yellow eel is a more primitive, and possibly reversible, gonad which differentiates completely at the beginning of sexual maturation and the change to the silver phase.