How do eels multiply ? It ’s a question that ’s been shrouded in mystery , but we are getting closer to understanding how eel copulate in the wild ? Eels make an epic migration out to sea in guild to reproduce , but where scientific discipline has fallen behind is in read how they get there , and how on Earth they cognize where they ’re going . We spoke to Dr Matthew Gollock , anexpert in eel behaviorand scientist with the Zoological Society of London ( ZSL ) , to find out more about what we really know about how eels mate in the wild .
Research has allowed us to get across the love survive ofEuropean eels(Anguilla genus Anguilla ) and theAmerican eel(Anguilla rostrata ) as far as their spawning ground in the Sargasso Sea ( a nursery ground that ’s popular withjuvenile sea turtles , too ) . However , the mystery bear because nobody really knows how they make the journey , or what they do when they arrive .
Do we know how eels reproduce?
While the ins and outs of eel reproduction are still something of a whodunit in the wild , these fauna have been used for inquiry as well as farming . Studies from these linguistic context have enabled us to peek behind the drapery of eel reproductive memory , but they have only shone a light on lowly aspects of the mysterious interaction in captivity .
As for what happens on those thousand - of - air mile - long migrations out in the bighearted wide world ? We ’re still pretty stumped .
“ There have been some studies that have give us insight into some elements of eel facts of life , but these are often limited to canvas a single aspect of what is a very complex situation , ” said ZSL Marine and Freshwater Senior Programme Manager and Chair of The IUCN SSCAnguillid Eel Specialist GroupDr Matthew Gollock to IFLScience .
The Sargasso Sea, home to the Bermuda Triangle, is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Image credit: Wind Vector/Shutterstock.com
“ For instance , swimming tunnels have been used to square off energy purpose in the spawning migration , but these are ineffective to take into account the insistency associated with these migration and also the diurnal movement within the urine column . ”
“ There are also efforts to stimulate facts of life in the lab using hormone treated eels . This has lead to successful spawning , but again , to what extent this mimic the wild is unsealed . ”
Why is finding out how eels mate in the wild so difficult?
If you ’re slapping on a pair of flipper with the intention of settling the Great Eel Reproduction Mystery once and for all , we repent to inform you that solving it is n’t as simple as popping out to take a look . This is because of the eldritch and wonderful living of eel .
“ Anguillid eels have a complex sprightliness - oscillation that involve migrations between continental waters where they fertilize and grow , and the open ocean where they breed , ” explained Gollock , however , we are making progress .
“ tag these migrations is challenging and expensive and as such there is only a circumscribed amount of research that has been conduct out on this . In the past 10 to 20 years our knowledge has increase greatly due to improvements in engineering and , in the species that are most learn , such as the American , European and Japanese eel , we believe that breeding come below 500 metre [ 1,640 feet ] and is influenced by a kitchen range of factors that we are only just beginning to understand . ”
European eels (Anguilla anguilla) undertake a5,000-kilometer (3,107) spawning migrationfrom Europe to the Sargasso Sea. Image credit: Rostislav Stefanek/Shutterstock.com
What theories do we have about the great eel reproduction mystery?
As for existing theories regarding the intricacies of eel replication , here too we are make waves but only a single hunch has been proven so far .
“ Tagging studies have been carried out on several eel coinage and our understanding of where they breed is improving all the prison term , ” Gollock told IFLScience .
“ However , only the Nipponese and Giant Mottled eel has been find at a suspected spawning web site , and for other specie we are still working to interpret specific fix and associated conditions . ”
For now , research continues into the mystery of eel replication , a goal which Gollock is driven by in his body of work on ajoint projectwith the UK Environment Agency . It train to chase after European eels in an endeavor to better understand their spawning migration , but for now , at least , the eels ’ sexy secret rest dependable .
All “ explainer ” article are confirmed by fact draughts to be correct at time of publishing . Text , images , and links may be edited , remove , or added to at a later escort to keep data current .
