Westerberg, Håkan and Amilhat, E. and Wahlberg, M. and Aarestrup, K. and Faliex, E. and Simon, G. and Tardy, C. and Righton, D.
(2021).
Predation on migrating eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) from the Western Mediterranean.
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 544
, 151613
[Research article]
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Abstract
Nineteen female silver European eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) were tagged with satellite tags and released in the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean during the migration seasons 2013 and 2015. Sixteen tags transmitted data: five in the Atlantic Ocean, and eleven in the Mediterranean. Of those, 50% of migrating eels were consumed by marine mammals in each year, all in the Mediterranean. The diving behaviour recorded by the tags after the eels were consumed indicated that the most likely predators were deep diving toothed whales. Measurements of the acoustic target strength of the tag showed a negligible effect on the detectability by whale biosonar. Overall, the observed predation rate was similar to that reported for eels escaping into the Atlantic. However, unlike eels in the Atlantic, which are most vulnerable to predators in the first week of escapement as they traverse the continental shelf and before they reach the refuge of the deep ocean, eels escaping from the Mediterranean were predated in deep water, months after release, likely as a consequence of their migration within a relatively narrow and deep corridor in the Alboran Sea. This emphasises the challenge of accounting for natural mortality in management plans for the long-term recovery of the European eel.
Authors/Creators: | Westerberg, Håkan and Amilhat, E. and Wahlberg, M. and Aarestrup, K. and Faliex, E. and Simon, G. and Tardy, C. and Righton, D. | ||||||
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Title: | Predation on migrating eels (Anguilla anguilla L.) from the Western Mediterranean | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2021 | ||||||
Volume: | 544 | ||||||
Article number: | 151613 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 9 | ||||||
Publisher: | ELSEVIER | ||||||
ISSN: | 0022-0981 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Fish and Aquacultural Science | ||||||
Keywords: | Eel migration, Anguilla anguilla, Mediterranean Sea, Predation, Toothed whales | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-113962 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-113962 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 25664 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Department of Aquatic Resources | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 14 Oct 2021 13:25 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 14 Oct 2021 13:31 |
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