Movement behaviour of large female yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) in a freshwater polder area

Verhelst, P.; Reubens, J.; Pauwels, I.; Buysse, D.; Aelterman, B.; Van Hoey, S.; Goethals, P.; Moens, T.; Coeck, J.; Mouton, A.

doi:/10.1111/eff.12362

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Movement behaviour of large female yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) in a freshwater polder area

Verhelst, P.; Reubens, J.; Pauwels, I.; Buysse, D.; Aelterman, B.; Van Hoey, S.; Goethals, P.; Moens, T.; Coeck, J.; Mouton, A. (2018). Movement behaviour of large female yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) in a freshwater polder area. Ecol. Freshw. Fish. 27(1): 471-480. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eff.12362

In: Ecology of freshwater fish. John Wiley & Sons ltd.: Copenhagen. ISSN 0906-6691; e-ISSN 1600-0633, more

Related to:

Verhelst, P. (2018). Movement behaviour of large female yellow European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) in a freshwater polder area, in: Verhelst, P. European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) movement behaviour in relation to habitat fragmentation - Novel insights inferred from acoustic telemetry. pp. 87-114, more

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Keywords

Measurement > Telemetry > Acoustic telemetry
Movement
Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
Fresh water

Author keywords

acoustic telemetry, circadian, European eel, movement, movement range, seasonal

Authors		Top
Verhelst, P., more Reubens, J., more Pauwels, I., more Buysse, D., more	Aelterman, B., more Van Hoey, S., more Goethals, P., more	Moens, T., more Coeck, J., more Mouton, A., more

Abstract

Due to a recruitment decline of more than 90% in 30 years, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) has been classified by IUCN as critically endangered. Although the species has been studied intensively to obtain knowledge to improve management, studies about the resident yellow stage are relatively scarce. In this study, 52 large female yellow eels were tagged with acoustic transmitters in a Belgian polder system and tracked by a network of 23 automatic listening stations. We studied both circadian and seasonal movement patterns and the effect of environmental variables on these patterns. Large female yellow eels were most active at night in late summer and early autumn. A generalised linear mixed model showed that their movement is only slightly influenced by environmental variables. Moreover, as yellow eels show high site fidelity (i.e., the majority was detected only in the habitat type of their catch-release location), they do not encounter many human-induced connectivity problems in polder systems, which makes these systems highly suitable as eel growth habitat. These results can contribute to an effective eel management regarding habitat protection and restoration.

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