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Occurrence of estuarine and sea eels Anguilla japonica and a migrating silver eel Anguilla anguilla in the Tokyo Bay area, Japan

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Abstract

Otolith microchemical analyses of the strontium (Sr) and calcium (Ca) concentrations in the eels Anguilla japonica and A. anguilla caught in Tokyo Bay were undertaken to reconstruct the eels’ migratory histories. A. japonica in the yellow stage (immature stage) were caught in a bay without any adjacent rivers or streams. A. anguilla was in the silver stage (early maturing stage), and the eel was confirmed to have just begun spawning migration to the open ocean from Tokyo Bay based on the otolith Sr:Ca ratios, which showed a typical catadromous life history with low Sr:Ca ratio values throughout the eel’s life after recruitment. The mean Sr:Ca ratios in A. japonica from the elver mark to the otolith edge indicated the eels belonged to several general categories of migratory histories, including sea eels (average Sr:Ca ratio ≥6.0 × 10−3) and estuarine eels (average Sr:Ca ratio 2.5 to 6.0 × 10−3) based on the criteria reported previously in A. japonica. All eels had a certain freshwater life period, although the period was highly variable among fish. These results indicate that A. japonica has a flexible pattern of migration, with the ability to adapt to various habitats and salinities.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. K. Okabe for collecting both the eel samples and environmental data. The authors would like to thank Ms. M. Otsuki for assistance with the chemical analysis of Ca and Sr. This work was supported in part by Grant-in-Aid No. 20688008 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Coastal Research Center, Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Otsuchi, Iwate, 028-1102, Japan

    Takaomi Arai

  2. Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Kitasato University, Ofunato, Iwate, 022-0101, Japan

    Naoko Chino

  3. Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan

    Aya Kotake

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  1. Takaomi Arai
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  2. Naoko Chino
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  3. Aya Kotake
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Correspondence to Takaomi Arai.

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Arai, T., Chino, N. & Kotake, A. Occurrence of estuarine and sea eels Anguilla japonica and a migrating silver eel Anguilla anguilla in the Tokyo Bay area, Japan. Fish Sci 75, 1197–1203 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0153-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0153-6

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