Abstract
Ecological studies on the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla often incorporate stable isotope analysis that typically uses dorsal muscle sampled from euthanised eels. To minimise the lethal sampling of imperilled populations, fin tissue and/or epidermal mucus can provide non‐lethal alternatives to muscle. The results here indicate that δ13C and δ15N values of both eel fin and mucus are not significantly different from those of muscle and can be applied directly in comparative SI studies.
Highlights
These alternative tissues can provide reliable substitutes for dorsal muscle in SI studies, their values often need correction factors to be applied if they are to be compared with dorsal muscle values from other studies (Kelly et al, 2006; Maitland & Rahel, 2020; Roberts et al, 2021)
Stable isotope analysis is frequently used in ecological studies of A. anguilla, where it has been used to identify their trophic ecology across salinity gradients (Harrod et al, 2005), their dietary differences in relation to head morphology (Cucherousset et al, 2011) and aspects of parasite infection (Pegg et al, 2015)
Fin tissue is commonly used in eel SI studies (e.g., Cucherousset et al, 2011; Musseau et al, 2015), many studies still use dorsal muscle, with samples collected from euthanised fish (e.g., Capoccioni et al, 2021; Parzanini et al, 2021)
Summary
Nonlethal sampling for the stable isotope analysis of the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla : how fin and mucus compare to dorsal muscle. All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document.
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