The Seaward Migration of European Eel at a Continental Scale: A Europe‐Wide Biotelemetry Meta‐Analysis

• DOI: 10.1111/faf.12904
• Publication Date: 2025-05-22T06:53:27Z
• Authors: Pieterjan Verhelst; David Righton; Kim Aarestrup; Pedro R. Almeida; Tea Bašić; Jonathan D. Bolland; Liam Carter; Johan Coeck; José Lino Costa; Justas Dainys; Jan Grimsrud Davi...; Isabel Domingos; Malte Dorow; Eric Feunteun; Jens Frankowski; Arie Benjamin Gri...; Rui Miguel Monteiro; Andy Moore; Damiano Oldoni; Adam T. Piper; Bernardo R. Quint...; Jake Reeds; Thomas Trancart; Pieter Verschelde; Hendrik Volken Wi...; Jan Reubens
• Keywords: Biotelemetry

ABSTRACT The European eel ( Anguilla anguilla L.) has a catadromous life cycle, with single panmictic population that colonises continental Europe and northern Africa yet migrates 5000 to 9000 km spawn in the Atlantic Ocean. It is unknown how this migration organised so individual eels arrive time for spawning conspecifics. This meta‐analysis combined tracking data from 18 water bodies freshwater transitional systems distributed along southwest‐northeast axis of Europe, resulting dataset 2306 eels, making it most comprehensive terms geographical coverage number tagged. were tracked using acoustic telemetry Nedap Trail System allowed us study eel's phenology at scale. findings reveal day when sea varies significantly latitude, arriving earlier. Migration speed differs between tidal non‐tidal habitats, suggesting currents facilitate faster movement. However, despite these patterns, we observed substantial variability arrival within bodies, considerably plastic. presence regulating structures such as weirs, pumping stations hydropower plants can impact timing speed, potentially delaying but likely dependent on local hydrological conditions which be body specific.