Found eel eggs in the wild

A team of Japanese researchers said they first found wild eggs in the Pacific Islands of Mariana, thereby shedding light on the mysteries surrounding the location and time of breeding. this fish.

Scientist Katsumi Tsukamoto, head of the research and working group at the University of Tokyo's Atmospheric and Oceanic Research Department, said he and his colleagues have collected 31 eel eggs within about 10 km2. near the western tip of the Mariana Islands just before the new moon appeared in May 2009.

According to Japan Today , these eel eggs are estimated to have been fertilized about 30 hours before. In addition, the team also found transparent eel larvae at a depth of about 160 m in the area mentioned above. Based on the collected information, they believe eels lay eggs at a depth of about 200 m, then fertilized eggs slowly rise to the surface and hatch into larvae.

Figure (a) early - middle stage of the embryo in collected eel eggs
on May 22, 2009 and (b) the last stage of the embryo in the eggs
before hatching collected on May 23, 2009.(Photo: Nature.com)

Scientists said that the 15 adult individuals of the Japanese eel and giant spotted eels are in the early stages of egg laying, and they speculate that their spawning time will coincide. with the new moon period.

Most Japanese people prefer dishes made from eel species. They are being raised in fish farms with the source of young eels caught from the sea. Page PhysOrg said, the number of baby eels has been significantly reduced since 1970 due to overfishing and climate change.

The discovery of eel eggs in the wild is expected to bring a new breakthrough in the technology of raising eels and preventing the decline of the number of eels in the future.