The hydrographic features of anguillid spawning areas: potential signposts for migrating eels.

Abstract

Catadromous anguillid eels (Genus Anguilla) migrate from their freshwater or estuarine habitats to marine spawning areas. Evidence from satellite tagging studies indicates that tropical and temperate eel species exhibit pronounced diel vertical migrations between 150 to 300 m nighttime depths to 600 to 800 m during the day. Collections of eggs and larvae of Japanese eels (A. japonica) show they may spawn at these upper nighttime migration depths. How anguillid eels navigate through the ocean and find their spawning areas remains unknown, so this study describes the salinity, temperature and geostrophic currents between 0 and 800 m depths within two confirmed and three hypothetical anguillid spawning areas during likely spawning seasons. Within all four ocean gyres many eels would encounter subducted 'Subtropical Underwater' during their nighttime ascents that could provide odor plumes as signposts. Four spawning areas are located near the western margins of where subducted water masses form cores of elevated salinities (~35.0 to 36.8) around 150 m depths, while one is found near the center of subduction. Low salinity surface waters and fronts are present in some of the areas above the high-salinity cores. Spawning may occur at temperatures between 16 to 24°C where the thermocline locally deepens. At spawning depths, weak westward currents (~0 to 0.1 m s-1) prevail, and eastward surface countercurrents are present. Anguillid eels possess acute sensory capabilities to detect these hydrographic features as potential signposts guiding them to where they spawn.