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MEPS 259:263-272 (2003)
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Abstract
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Tropical eels Anguilla spp. recruiting to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean: taxonomy, patterns of recruitment and early life histories
Tony Robinet1, Raymonde Lecomte-Finiger2,*, Karine Escoubeyrou2,3, Eric Feunteun1
1Laboratoire de Biologie et Environnement Marins, EA 3168, Université de La Rochelle, Avenue Michel Crépeau, 17000 La Rochelle, France
2Laboratoire d'Ichtyoécologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, EPHE, CNRS, UMR 8046, Université de Perpignan, 50 Avenue de Villeneuve, 66860 Perpignan cedex, France
3Present address: Observatoire Océanologique, Laboratoire ARAGO, UMR 7621, Université Paris VI, 66651 Banyuls-sur-mer cedex, France
*Corresponding author. Email: lecomte@univ-perp.fr
ABSTRACT: Anguillid glass eels were sampled between October 2000 and October 2001 in an estuarine goby-fry traditional fishery of Réunion Island (21°S, 56°E), Mascarene Islands, western Indian Ocean. Recruitment occurred from November to April. Among the
633 specimens collected, 4 species were identified by biometric measurements coupled with number of vertebrae (61.9% of the specimens were Anguilla marmorata, 19.4% A. bicolor bicolor, 18.3% A. mossambica and 0.3% A.
nebulosa labiata). A. mossambica had the shortest total length at recruitment (51.2 ± 2.7 mm), compared to A. marmorata (53.3 ± 2.5 mm) and A. bicolor bicolor (54.0 ± 2.1 mm). Most juvenile pigmentation corresponded to the glass
eel stage (VA to VB). We extracted 34 otoliths and visualized their microstructure by SEM. The short-finned A. bicolor bicolor had the shortest leptocephalus stage (46.2 ± 5.8 d) and age at recruitment (79.8 ± 7.7 d). The long-finned glass eels had
the same age at recruitment (120.2 ± 24.7 and 123.6 ± 17 d for A. marmorata and A. mossambica respectively) and the same leptocephalus stage duration (96.9 ± 26.4 and 102.1 ± 17.2 d for A. marmorata and A. mossambica
respectively). Otolith readings and sampling dates showed that A. mossambica hatched about 2 mo earlier than A. marmorata. Their identical early life histories should imply adjoining spawning grounds, whereas A. bicolor bicolor must
spawn in a distinctive location. Hypotheses for spawning area locations are discussed as a function of the region's oceanic circulation.
KEY WORDS: Anguilla spp. · Indian Ocean · Réunion Island · Migration · Otoliths · Recruitment age
Full text in pdf format
Published in MEPS Vol.
259
(2003) on September 12
Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2003
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