International eel symposium, 2003 - Quebec August 11, 2003
Oral Presentation

New Perspectives on the Early Life History of Tropical Eels: Implications for Resource Management.

Miller, M.J.* Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan, miller@ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Aoyama, J. Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan

Presenter email address: miller AT ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Abstract Text: Recent findings on the larval distributions of tropical eels in the western Pacific and Indonesian Seas suggest that species such as the Indonesian mottled eel, Anguilla celebesensis, spawn relatively near their growth habitats. However, the more widespread giant mottled eel, Anguilla marmorata, which is found sympatrically with A. celebesensis, but is also distributed up to southern Japan, may spawn in the western North Pacific. A recent population genetics study of A. marmorata worldwide showed that A. marmorata from Indonesia to Japan may belong to the same population, separate from the Indian Ocean and South Pacific populations. Recent studies on the recruitment and ages of tropical glass eels, show that both A. marmorata and A. celebesensis may spawn and recruit during much of the year, but recruitment of A. marmorata to areas outside the Indonesian Throughflow may be seasonal and dependent on the monsoon cycle. This indicates that within the Indonesian Seas these two sympatric eels, may have two very different population structures with local populations of A. celebesensis and one large possibly panmictic spawning population of A. marmorata. This may require a different management approach in some areas to prevent the loss of local stocks of A. celebesensis.