Marine Ecology Progress Series
MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps188193
copiedDistribution and dispersal of anguillid leptocephali in the western Pacific Ocean revealed by molecular analysis
- Jun Aoyama
- Noritaka Mochioka
- Tsuguo Otake
- Satoshi Ishikawa
- Yutaka Kawakami
- Peter Castle
- Mutsumi Nishida
- Katsumi Tsukamoto
ABSTRACT: To determine the distribution and dispersal of leptocephalus larvae of freshwater eels Anguilla spp. in the western Pacific, mitochondrial DNA sequences of 63 larvae were compared with those of adults. All larvae were definitivelyidentified as 1 of the following 6 species: A. marmorata, A. bicolor pacifica, A. reinhardtii, A. australis, A. megastoma or A. japonica. Species-specificpatchiness in the distribution of these leptocephali in the western Pacific was apparent. A. marmorata showed 2 different areas of patchiness in both the North and South Pacific (around 15° N and 10° S). Horizontal distributions of anguillidleptocephali are apparently closely related to the freshwater habitat of adults by way of ocean currents. Accordingly, specific dispersal routes of leptocephali from likely spawning areas to their freshwater habitats are suggested.
KEYWORDS
Jun Aoyama (Co-author)
- Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan
Noritaka Mochioka (Co-author)
- Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 6-10-1, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812, Japan
Tsuguo Otake (Co-author)
- Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan
Satoshi Ishikawa (Co-author)
- Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan
Yutaka Kawakami (Co-author)
- Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 6-10-1, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812, Japan
Peter Castle (Co-author)
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6000, New Zealand
Mutsumi Nishida (Co-author)
- Department of Marine Bioscience, Fukui Prefectural University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Obama, Fukui 917-0003, Japan
Katsumi Tsukamoto (Co-author)
- Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan