The Japanese eel is a well known ingredient in Japanese delicacies. Nonetheless, wild populations are shrinking, elevating considerations about potential extinction and rising costs. Overfishing and environmental harm are main causes, whereas predatory fish additionally pose a menace to younger eels throughout their progress phases. Nonetheless, researchers at Nagasaki College have found a rare survival ability in juvenile eels that allows them to flee from predators even after being swallowed. So, how do they accomplish this exceptional feat?
Decline of Wild Eel Populations
The Japanese eel inhabits rivers and estuaries, spending 5 to fifteen years maturing earlier than migrating to spawn close to the Mariana Trench, about 2,000 kilometers south within the Pacific.
After hatching, the larvae — often called leptocephalus and formed like willow leaves — journey westward on the North Equatorial Present, reaching waters close to the Philippines and Taiwan.
From there, they trip the Kuroshio Present northward, remodeling into juvenile glass eels, or “shirasu-unagi,” and returning to native shores. Glass eels caught at river mouths are raised in captivity, finally changing into the farmed eels bought in shops.
Commercial
The Nice Escape
Researchers from Nagasaki University got down to uncover the defensive methods of juvenile eels. The workforce investigated how these younger eels responded when confronted with the darkish sleeper, a predatory freshwater goby that may develop as much as 25 centimeters in size.
To review this, they positioned juvenile eels, measuring 6 to 7 centimeters lengthy and nonetheless darkly pigmented, into tanks containing a darkish sleeper and filmed the encounters.
Proceed studying the full article on Japan 2 Earth (J2E), our affiliated web site sparking a transition to a sustainable future by spotlighting the newest environmental improvements from Japan.
Commercial
RELATED:
Writer: Juichiro Ito, The Sankei Shimbun
