Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Size-dependent changes in habitat use of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica during the river life stage

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) is a commercially important species; however, its population has declined in recent years. Appropriate conservation management, including habitat protection, is required to reverse this decline. However, their habitat use pattern during the riverine life stage is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the longitudinal distribution and microhabitat of small-sized (<200 mm total length) and large-sized (≥200 mm total length) Japanese eels observed in 83 and 124 quadrats (1 m × 1 m), respectively, placed at seven stations in the Nikkeshi River in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Analysis using generalized linear models revealed that the eel density of both size classes decreased with increasing distance from the river mouth. In addition, the density of small-sized eels, but not large-sized ones, decreased as weir numbers increased. Moreover, analysis using generalized additive models showed that microhabitat uses differed between the size classes. The small-sized eels used near-shore habitats which had low current velocities. Their preferred habitats contained both complex substrates with smaller particle sizes and simple substrates with relatively large particle sizes. In contrast, the large-sized eels used both near-shore habitats with lower current velocities and the center of the river which had high current velocities. They preferred simple riverbed habitats with large particle-sized substrates and no underwater vegetation. These results suggest that there is a size-dependent change in the longitudinal distribution and microhabitat use of Japanese eels during their river life stage. These findings provide valuable information for the conservation and management of Japanese eels in rivers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aoyama J, Shinoda A, Sasai S, Miller MJ, Tsukamoto K (2005) First observations of the burrows of Anguilla japonica. J Fish Biol 67:1534–1543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbin GP, Krueger WH (1994) Behaviour and swimming performance of elvers of the American eel, Anguitta rostrata, in an experimental flume. J Fish Biol 45:111–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartoń K (2017) Multi-Model Inference. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MuMIn/MuMIn.pdf. Accessed January 30, 2019

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns DK, Secor DA, Morrison WE, Hallett JA (2009) Salinity-linked growth in anguillid eels and the paradox of temperate-zone catadromy. J Fish Biol 74:2094–2114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J-Z, Huang S-L, Han Y-S (2014) Impact of long-term habitat loss on the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 151:361–369

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Christoffersen M, Svendsen JC, Kuhn JA, Nielsen A, Martjanova A, Støttrup JG (2018) Benthic habitat selection in juvenile European eel Anguilla anguilla: implications for coastal habitat management and restoration. J Fish Biol 93:996–999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daverat F, Tomás J (2006) Tactics and demographic attributes in the European eel Anguilla anguilla in the Gironde watershed, SW France. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 307:247–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domingos I, Costa JL, Costa MJ (2006) Factors determining length distribution and abundance of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla, in the river Mondego (Portugal). Freshw Biol 51:2265–2281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dou S-Z, Tsukamoto K (2003) Observations on the nocturnal activity and feeding behavior of Anguilla japonica glass eels under laboratory conditions. Environ Biol Fish 67:389–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feunteun E (2002) Management and restoration of European eel population (Anguilla anguilla): an impossible bargain. Ecol Engineer 18:575–591

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox J, Weisberg S (2018) Companion to Applied Regression. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/car/car.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2019

  • Fukuda N, Miller MJ, Aoyama J, Shinoda A, Tsukamoto K (2013) Evaluation of the pigmentation stages and body proportions from the glass eel to yellow eel in Anguilla japonica. Fish Sci 79:425–438

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter PR, Gaston MA (1988) Numerical index of the discriminatory ability of typing systems: an application of Simpson’s index of diversity. J Clin Microbiol 26:2465–2466

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Itakura H, Kitagawa T, Miller MJ, Kimura S (2015) Declines in catches of Japanese eels in rivers and lakes across Japan: have river and lake modifications reduced fishery catches? Lands Ecol Engineer 11:147–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itakura H, Miyake Y, Kitagawa T, Kimura S (2018) Site fidelity, diel and seasonal activities of yellow-phase Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica) in a freshwater habitat as inferred from acoustic telemetry. Ecol Freshw Fish 27:737–751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby DMP, Gollock, MJ (2014) Anguilla japonica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014:e.T166184A1117791

  • Johnson JH, Nack CC (2013) Habitat use of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) in a tributary of the Hudson River, New York. J Appl Ichthyol 29:1073–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaifu K (2019) Challenges in assessments of Japanese eel stock. Mar Policy 102:1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaifu K, Tamura M, Aoyama J, Tsukamoto K (2010) Dispersal of yellow phase Japanese eels Anguilla japonica after recruitment in the Kojima Bay-Asahi River system, Japan. Environ Biol Fish 88:273–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaifu K, Miller MJ, Yada T, Aoyama J, Washitani I, Tsukamoto K (2013) Growth differences of Japanese eels Anguilla japonica between fresh and brackish water habitats in relation to annual food consumption in the Kojima Bay-Asahi River system, Japan. Ecol Freshw Fish 22:127–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaifu K, Yokouchi K, Higuchi T, Itakura H, Shirai K (2018) Depletion of naturally recruited wild Japanese eels in Okayama, Japan, revealed by otolith stable isotope ratios and abundance indices. Fish Sci 84:757–763

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kume M, Terashima Y, Wada T, Yamashita Y (2019) Longitudinal distribution and microhabitat use of young Japanese eel Anguilla japonica in a small river flowing through paddy areas. J Appl Ichthyol 35:876–883

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwak TJ, Engman AC, Lilyestrom CG (2019) Ecology and conservation of the American eel in the Caribbean region. Fish Manag Ecol 26:42–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laffaille P, Feunteun E, Baisez A, Robinet T, Acou A, Legault A, Lek S (2003) Spatial organisation of European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) in a small catchment. Ecol Freshw Fish 12:254–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laffaille P, Acou A, Guillouët J (2005) The yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) may adopt a sedentary lifestyle in inland freshwaters. Ecol Freshw 14:191–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lasne E, Laffaille P (2008) Analysis of distribution patterns of yellow European eels in the Loire catchment using logistic models based on presence–absence of different size-classes. Ecol Freshw Fish 17:30–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linton ED, Jónsson B, Noakes DLG (2007) Effects of water temperature on the swimming and climbing behavior of glass eels, Anguilla spp. Environ Biol Fish 78:189–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment, Japan (2016) Report of the project on conservation measures of Japanese eels 2015. Ministry of the Environment, Japan, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese)

  • Morrison WE, Secor DH (2003) Demographic attributes of yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata) in the Hudson River estuary. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 60:1487–1501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okamura A, Yamada Y, Yokouchi K, Horie N, Mikawa N, Utoh T, Tanaka S, Tsukamoto K (2007) A silvering index for the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. Environ Biol Fish 80:77–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • QGIS Development Team (2016) QGIS geographic information system. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. http://www.qgis.org. Accessed 30 April 2019

  • R Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. http://www.r-project.org/. Accessed January 30, 2019

  • Schneider G, Chicken E, Becvarik R (2018) Functions and datasets to accompany Hollander, Wolfe, and chicken - Nonparametric statistical methods, Third edition. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/NSM3/NSM3.pdf. Accessed February 7, 2019

  • Solomon DJ, Beach MH (2004) Fish pass design for eel and elver (Anguilla anguilla). RandD technical report W2-070/TR. Environment agency, Bristol, UK

  • Tomie JPN, Cairns DK, Courtenay SC (2013) How American eels Anguilla rostrata construct and respire in burrows. Aquat Biol 19:287–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomie JPN, Cairns DK, Hobbs RS, Desjardins M, Fletcher GL, Courtenay SC (2017) American eels (Anguilla rostrata) substrate selection for daytime refuge and winter thermal sanctuary. Mar Freshw Res 68:95–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsukamoto K, Arai T (2001) Facultative catadromy of the eel Anguilla japonica between freshwater and seawater habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 220:265–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsukamoto K, Aoyama J, Miller MJ (2009) Present status of the Japanese eel: resources and recent research. Am Fish Soc Symp 58:21–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsukamoto K, Chow S, Otake T, Kurogi H, Mochioka N, Miller MJ, Aoyama J, Kimura S, Watanabe S, Yoshinaga T, Shinoda A, Kuroki M, Oya M, Watanabe T, Hata K, Ijiri S, Kazeto Y, Nomura K, Tanaka H (2011) Oceanic spawning ecology of freshwater eels in the western North Pacific. Nat Commun 2:179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tzeng W-N, Cheng P-W, Lin F-Y (1995) Relative abundance, sex ratio and population structure of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica in the Tanshui River system of northern Taiwan. J Fish Biol 46:183–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakiya R, Kaifu K, Mochioka N (2016) Growth conditions after recruitment determine residence-emigration tactics of female Japanese eels Anguilla japonica. Fish Sci 82:729–736

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh CT, Pease BC (2002) The use of clove oil as an anaesthetic for the longfinned eel, Anguilla reinhardtii (Steindachner). Aquaculture Res 33:627–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh CT, Pease BC, Hoyle SD, Booth DJ (2006) Variability in growth of longfinned eels among coastal catchments of South-Eastern Australia. J Fish Biol 68:1693–1706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White EM, Knights E (1997) Dynamics of upstream migration of the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.), in the rivers Severn and Avon, England, with special reference to the effects of man-made barriers. Fish Manag Ecol 4:311–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood S (2018) Mixed GAM computation vehicle with automatic smoothness estimation. https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/mgcv/mgcv.pdf. Accessed January 30, 2019

  • Yokouchi K, Aoyama J, Oka HP, Tsukamoto K (2008) Variation in the demographic characteristics of yellow-phase Japanese eels in different habitats of the Hamana Lake system, Japan. Ecol Freshw Fish 17:639–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yokouchi K, Fukuda N, Miller MJ, Aoyama J, Daverat F, Tsukamoto K (2012) Influences of early habitat use on the migratory plasticity and demography of Japanese eels in Central Japan. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 107:132–140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the staff at Soma Branch of Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, Shigeho Ijiri, Moemi Horiuchi, Tomoya Hori, Takuji Noda, Hideto Nakanishi, and Daichi Tyushi, for supporting the field work.

Funding

This work was supported by the River Fund of the River Foundation (2018–5211-002) to M.K., JSPS KAKENHI (16H02563) to Y.Y., and the Link Again Program of the Nippon Foundation - Kyoto University Joint Project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manabu Kume.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kume, M., Terashima, Y., Kawai, F. et al. Size-dependent changes in habitat use of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica during the river life stage. Environ Biol Fish 103, 269–281 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00957-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00957-w

Keywords

Navigation