Occurrence and Habitats of the Giant Mottled Eel Anguilla marmorata (Anguilliformes, Anguillidae) in Rivers of Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Mizuno Kouki

Nagasawa Kazuya

Biogeography

Japan is the northernmost distributional area for the giant mottle eel Anguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, 1824. A total of 45 giant mottled eels were collected with eel pots from July 1997 to March 2010 in the freshwater lower reach of the Renjoji River in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island, Japan. The number of A marmorata caught per year was up to 11 (mean 3.4), indicating that the species was in quite low abundance in this river. Most of the eels were captured from June to September. Some eels were also captured incidentally in three adjacent rivers. The eels caught in the Renjoji River were small (30.3–59.7 cm in total length), which was probably caused by the selectivity of fishing gear used. As the eels were mainly captured at sites covered with emergent plants and inhabited by decapod crustaceans and fishes, such environment may be suitable for the habitats of A. marmorata.

Anguilla marmorata

seasonal occurrence

body size

habitats

Biology [ 460 ]

eng

日本生物地理学会

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[ISSN] 1345-0662

[NCID] AA11381320