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Density, size distribution and home range of American eels, Anguilla rostrata, in a Massachusetts salt marsh

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Synopsis

Local American eel stocks were studied by mark-recapture methods along 600m of tidal creeks in Great Sippewisset Marsh, Falmouth, Massachusetts, during summer 1979. The estimated stock density was 350 eels, equivalent to 875 fish ha-1, and movement of individual American eels over the five week study was usually less than 100 m. Large American eels were found to predominate in the wide marsh creeks whereas smaller American eels predominated in narrower creeks at the landward side of the marsh. Territoriality is suggested as a mechanism for maintaining differences in distribution of size classes and a limited home range.

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Ford, T.E., Mercer, E. Density, size distribution and home range of American eels, Anguilla rostrata, in a Massachusetts salt marsh. Environ Biol Fish 17, 309–314 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001497

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001497

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