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Growth history and age at recruitment of European glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) as revealed by otolith microstructure

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Abstract

The growth history and age at recruitment of Anguilla anguilla Linnaeus, 1758 were studied, based on growth increments in sagittal otoliths of glass eels and elvers collected from the eastern Atlantic coast in 1989 and in 1990. The maximum otolith radius varied with pigmentation stage. Deposition of the transition ring was complete at Stage VIA0. The size of the leptocephalus growth zone varied as a function of site, increasing from south to north. The oceanic migration of the leptocephali required less than one year.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, Université de Perpignan, 52 Avenue de Villeneuve, F-66860, Perpignan cédex, France

    R. Lecomte-Finiger

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  1. R. Lecomte-Finiger
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Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille

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Lecomte-Finiger, R. Growth history and age at recruitment of European glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) as revealed by otolith microstructure. Marine Biology 114, 205–210 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349520

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