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Science 25 September 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5948, p. 1660
DOI: 10.1126/science.1178120
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Brevia
Oceanic Spawning Migration of the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla)
Kim Aarestrup,1,*
Finn Økland,2
Michael M. Hansen,1,
David Righton,3
Patrik Gargan,4
Martin Castonguay,5
Louis Bernatchez,6
Paul Howey,7
Henrik Sparholt,8
Michael I. Pedersen,1
Robert S. McKinley9
European eels ( Anguilla anguilla) undertake a ~5000-kilometer (km) spawning migration from Europe to the Sargasso Sea. The larvae are transported back to European waters by the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift. However, details of the spawning migration remain unknown because tracking eels in the Atlantic Ocean has, so far, eluded study. Recent advances in satellite tracking enable investigation of migratory behavior of large ocean-dwelling animals. However, sizes of available tags have precluded tracking smaller animals like European eels. Here, we present information about the swimming direction, depth, and migratory behavior of European eels during spawning migration, based on a miniaturized pop-up satellite archival transmitter. Although the tagging experiment fell short of revealing the full migration to the Sargasso Sea, the data covered the first 1300 km and provided unique insights.
2 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway.
3 Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft NR33 0HT, UK.
4 Central Fisheries Board (CFB), Swords Business Campus, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
5 Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), 850 route de la mer, Carte Postale 1000, Mont-Joli, Québec G5H 3Z4, Canada.
6 Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Pavillon Charles-Eugène Marchand, Université Laval, Québec QC G1V 0A6, Canada.
7 Microwave Telemetry, Incorporated, 8835 Columbia 100 Parkway, Columbia, MD 21045, USA.
8 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), H. C. Andersens Boulevard 44-46, DK-1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark.
9 Animal Science, University of British Columbia (UBC), 4160 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, British Columbia V7V 1N6, Canada.
 Present address: Aarhus University (AU), Department of Biological Sciences, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kaa{at}aqua.dtu.dk
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