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Video observation of an eel in the Anguilla japonica spawning area along the West Mariana Ridge

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An Erratum to this article was published on 09 July 2013

Abstract

Some anguillid spawning areas are known based on collections of small larvae, but recently for the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica, adult spawners have been caught in trawls and their eggs and preleptocephali collected. The spawning area of A. japonica is located along the western side of the West Mariana Ridge, but the natural spawning behavior of this species or that of any other anguillid species has never been observed. This study reports on the first effort to observe spawning aggregations of anguillid eels that was conducted by the R/V Yokosuka using the Shinkai 6500 submersible and a Deep-Tow camera system in the A. japonica spawning area in July 2012. The submersible was deployed mostly at 200–800 m during daytime and the Deep-Tow was deployed mostly at 130–250 m during nighttime, both in multiple oblique depth tracks along linear transects. Various fishes and invertebrates were seen in the pelagic environment during day and night, but no spawning aggregations were observed. One eel was briefly recorded by a Deep-Tow camera at 20:13 on 17 July (2 days before new moon) at a depth of 179 m. The eel was recorded for <1 s as it passed in front of the camera. Its anterior body and head shape were consistent with a male A. japonica, or possibly a Derichthys serpentinus eel, but not with other mesopelagic eels. Because the tail region of the eel was not visible, species identification was not possible.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank the Shinkai 6500 submersible and Deep-Tow team for their excellent effort and support during the cruise, and the captain and crew of the R/V Yokosuka for their assistance. We also thank the IRAGO Institute for providing the artificially matured Japanese eel ovaries to use as an olfactory attractant. The support of the JAMSTEC cruise administration team is also greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    Katsumi Tsukamoto, Michael J. Miller, Shun Watanabe & Jun Aoyama

  2. Bioresource Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan

    Noritaka Mochioka

  3. Institute of Biogeosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan

    Sumihiro Koyama

Authors
  1. Katsumi Tsukamoto
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  2. Noritaka Mochioka
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  3. Michael J. Miller
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  4. Sumihiro Koyama
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  5. Shun Watanabe
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Correspondence to Katsumi Tsukamoto.

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Tsukamoto, K., Mochioka, N., Miller, M.J. et al. Video observation of an eel in the Anguilla japonica spawning area along the West Mariana Ridge. Fish Sci 79, 407–416 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-013-0611-z

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