Abstract
There is growing concern about the potential impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) on the ecology of various taxonomic groups and their associated ecological processes. Freshwater anguillid eels have nocturnal and crepuscular foraging behaviors in estuarine and riverine habitats that are likely affected by ALAN, but little is known about possible effects. We examined changes in foraging activity of Japanese eels, Anguilla japonica, in relation to ALAN using catch data collected during recreational fishing activities. There were significant differences in the relationship between the frequency of eel catches and times from sunset among different illuminance conditions. The frequency of eel catchs peaked at dusk in the lower illuminance conditions, whereas eel catch times were delayed and most eels were caught more than 120 min after sunset at fishing sites highly exposed to artificial lights. Eels were not caught in lighted conditions but were caught after the artificial lights were turned off, although it is not clear if foraging reduction in lighted duration could be compensated for. However, at two sites located near cylindrical refuge traps, eels were caught independent of the lighted durations and sunset times. These preliminary results suggest that ALAN has caused reductions or delay of foraging activity of Japanese eels in urbanized estuarine and riverine habitats, but the presence of preferable refuge habitats may influence the effects of artificial light. Future studies examining the abiotic and biotic environmental factors more rigorously are needed that can contribute to the effective conservation of eel populations and aquatic communities.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Y. Oto for providing useful advice on the statistical analyses. We also thank T. Nishimura for his advice on the fishing methods, and K. Kuriya, K. Makita, K. Murata, G. Yamaka, and S. Yasui for their help with fishing. N. Mochioka and M. J. Miller helped to improve the manuscript. No new individuals were harmed for this study.
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Both authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection was performed by YH. Data analyses was performed by KM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KM, and both authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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No animals were harmed for this study. All eels were caught at the sites where unlicensed recreational fishing was permitted by Mie and Gifu prefectures of Japan, by using permitted fishing methods. Our fishing procedure complied with the relevant Japanese laws and regulations of the prefectures in terms of fishing season and body length of captured eels. Eel treatments after caught were consistent with relevant Japanese law.
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Matsushige, K., Hibino, Y. The effects of artificial light at night on the foraging activity of Japanese eels: implications of recreational fishing data. Environ Biol Fish 106, 1733–1746 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01450-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01450-w