Guido van den Thillart & Sylvie Dufour 
Spawning Migration of the European Eel 
Reproduction index, a useful tool for conservation management

Freshwater eels are almost infinitely improbable creatures. They spawn and die in the middle of the ocean, often associated with undersea mountains. Their tra- parent, leaf-like larvae move with ocean currents for months or years until they approach the mouths of freshwater rivers. Then they undergo a dramatic transf- mation in morphology, physiology and behavior. They move from their planktonic oceanic environment, migrate upstream and live for several years as apex fre- water predators. Then, almost impossibly, as they become sexually mature, they reverse their migration downstream to the ocean and back to spawning grounds to complete their life cycle. The dramatic changes in their life cycles are incredible. The efforts to unravel the details of their life history have been truly daunting. Much of the past research was the work of dedicated individuals who devoted their lifetime research to these fishes. Freshwater eels merit a separate chapter in almost any textbook dealing with ichthyology, marine biology or animal migration. We know a great deal about some aspects of the biology of freshwater eels. However, our understanding of their bi- ogy still resembles a work of art as much as a work of science. To some it appears like the sweeping brush strokes of a Japanese Zen landscape, to others it resembles the work of a French impressionist, and to still others it appears as magic realism.

Table of Content

How to Estimate the Reproductive Success of European Silver Eels.- Silvering.- Seasonal Evolution and Individual Differences in Silvering Eels from Different Locations.- Silvering: Metamorphosis or Puberty?.- Silver Eel Migration and Behaviour.- Performance.- High Pressure Resistance and Adaptation of European Eels.- Acclimation to Seawater in the European Eel Anguilla anguilla: Effects of Silvering.- Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP), a New Endocrine Factor Involved in the Complex Multi-hormonal Control of the Gill Osmoregulation: Evidence from Studies in the European Eel, Anguilla anguilla.- Energy Requirements of European Eel for Trans Atlantic Spawning Migration.- Impact of the Swim-Bladder Parasite on the Health and Performance of European Eels.- Maturation and Reproduction.- Effects of Swimming on Silvering and Maturation of the European Eel, Anguilla anguilla L..- The Gonadoliberin(S)-Gonadotropin(S) Axis in the Eel: Expression and Regulation Under Induced Maturation and Sex Steroid Feedbacks.- Dopamine Inhibition of Eel Reproduction.- Artificial Maturation and Reproduction of the European Eel.- Testis Development, Sperm Quality Evaluation and Cryopreservation in the European Eel.- Environmental Effects.- The Effect of PCBs on the Spawning Migration of European Silver Eel (Anguilla anguilla L.).- Impact of Eel Viruses on Recruitment of European Eel.- Evolutionary Consequences of Eel Migration.- Proximate and Ultimate Control of Eel Continental Dispersal.- Synthesis.- Reproduction Capacity of European Eels.