Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T21:51:50.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations of large muraenid leptocephali in coastal Indonesia: locations of sightings and behaviour of the larvae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2013

Michael J. Miller ,
Rob Rutgers ,
Barry Haythorne ,
Tunç Yavuzdoğan ,
Seishoku Obata ,
Tony Wu ,
Henny Rutgers ,
Jerry Powell  and
Katsumi Tsukamoto
Michael J. Miller*
Affiliation:
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan
Rob Rutgers
Affiliation:
Hoensbroek, The Netherlands
Barry Haythorne
Affiliation:
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Tunç Yavuzdoğan
Affiliation:
Ayışığı Diving Center, Bağdat Cad, Istanbul, Turkey
Seishoku Obata
Affiliation:
Omiya-shi, Saitama-ken, Japan
Tony Wu
Affiliation:
Yokohama-shi, Kohoku-ku, Kanagawa-ken, Japan
Henny Rutgers
Affiliation:
Hoensbroek, The Netherlands
Jerry Powell
Affiliation:
Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, Winterthur, Delaware, USA
Katsumi Tsukamoto
Affiliation:
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.J. Miller, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan email: miller@aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Get access

Abstract

A large often greenish-appearing type of leptocephalus larva has been observed and photographed or filmed by divers at 4 different locations within the Indonesian Archipelago from 2008 to 2011, and this paper documents these sightings and evaluates what can be learned about this type of unusual eel larvae. These leptocephali (~300–400 mm long) appear to be exceptionally large metamorphosing larvae of some type of moray eel of the family Muraenidae. Because of the morphological similarities between these larvae and ribbon eels, Rhinomuraena quaesita, they are hypothesized to be their larvae, which have never been distinguished among leptocephali of the Muraenidae. These leptocephali were observed at Sangeang Island, in Lembeh Strait adjacent to north-eastern Sulawesi Island, in two different years at Ambon Island, and on two consecutive days at Bali, between December and June of 4 different years. All observations of the large leptocephali were at depths shallower than about 23 m in areas with mixed coral rubble or coarse sand and silt substrates during daylight hours. The larvae used various styles of anguilliform swimming and swam near the bottom or in the lower water column while being observed. One larva tried unsuccessfully several times to enter small crevices. They were all at the metamorphosing stage and may have been entering coastal habitats to find a hiding place where they could transform into juvenile eels. Further studies are needed to clearly identify these large leptocephali and to learn about their life history.

Keywords

Anguilliformesleptocephalimoray eelsribbon eelsmetamorphosisrecruitmentswimming behaviourIndonesia
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 6 , 2013 , e82
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bertin, L. (1954) Les larves leptocéphaliennes geantes et le probleme du ‘serpent de mer’. Nature, Paris 82, 312–313.Google Scholar
Blache, J. (1977) Leptocéphales des poissons Anguilliformes dans la zone sud du Golfe de Guinée. Faune Tropicale 10, 1–381.Google Scholar
Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) (1989) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Leptocephali. Part 9, Volume 2. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research.Google Scholar
Böhlke, E.B. and Smith, D.G. (2002) Type catalogue of Indo-Pacific Muraenidae. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 152, 89–172.Google Scholar
Böhlke, E.B., McCosker, J.E. and Böhlke, J.E. (1989) Family Muraenidae. In Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 9, Volume 1. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, pp. 104–206.Google Scholar
Castle, P.H.J. (1959) A large leptocephalid (Teleostei, Apodes) from off South Westland, New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 87, 179–184.Google Scholar
Castle, P.H.J. (1967) Two remarkable eel-larvae from off Southern Africa. Special Publication of the Department of Ichthyology of Rhodes University I, 1–121.Google Scholar
Castle, P.H.J. (1970) Distribution, larval growth, and metamorphosis of the eel Derichthys serpentinus Gill, 1884 (Pisces, Derichthyidae). Copeia 1970, 444–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castle, P.H.J. (1984) Notacanthiformes and Anguilliformes: development. In Moser, H.G. and Richards, W.G. (eds) Ontogeny and systematics of fishes. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, pp. 62–93. [American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Special Publication 1.]Google Scholar
Castle, P.H.J. and Raju, N.S. (1975) Some rare leptocephali from the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans. Dana Report 85, 1–25.Google Scholar
Castonguay, M. and McCleave, J.D. (1987) Vertical distributions, diel and ontogenetic vertical migrations and net avoidance of leptocephali of Anguilla and other common species in the Sargasso Sea. Journal of Plankton Research 9, 195–214.Google Scholar
Dufour, V., Riclet, E. and Lo-Yat, A. (1996) Colonization of reef fishes at Moorea Island, French Polynesia: temporal and spatial variation of the larval flux. Marine and Freshwater Research 47, 413–422.Google Scholar
Fishelson, L. (1990) Rhinomuraena spp. (Pisces: Muraenidae): the first vertebrate genus with post-anally situated urogenital organs. Marine Biology 105, 253–257.Google Scholar
Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (eds) (2012) FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. Available at: www.fishbase.org (accessed February 2012).Google Scholar
Harnden, C.W., Crabtree, R.E. and Shenker, J.M. (1999) Onshore transport of elopomorph leptocephali and glass eels (Pisces: Osteichthyes) in the Florida Keys. Gulf of Mexico Science 17, 17–26.Google Scholar
Holl, A., Schulte, E. and Meinel, W. (1970) Funktionelle Morphologie des Geruchsorgans und Histologie der KopfanNinge der Nasenmur ine Rhinomuraena ambonensis (Teleostei, Anguilliformes). Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 21, 103–123.Google Scholar
Leiby, M.M. (1989) Family Ophichthidae: Leptocephali. In Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 9, Volume 2. Leptocephali. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, pp. 764–897.Google Scholar
McIlwain, J.L. (2003) Fine-scale temporal and spatial patterns of larval supply to a fringing reef in Western Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 252, 207–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, M.J. (2009) Ecology of anguilliform leptocephali: remarkable transparent fish larvae of the ocean surface layer. Aqua-BioScience Monographs 2, 1–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, M.J. and McCleave, J.D. (1994) Species assemblages of leptocephali in the subtropical convergence zone of the Sargasso Sea. Journal of Marine Research 52, 743–772.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J. and McCleave, J.D. (2007) Species assemblages of leptocephali in the Southwestern Sargasso Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 344, 197–212.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J. and Tsukamoto, K. (2004) An introduction to leptocephali: biology and identification. Tokyo: Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 96 pp.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J. and Tsukamoto, K. (2006) Studies on eels and leptocephali in Southeast Asia: a new research frontier. Coastal Marine Science 30, 283–292.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J., Otake, T., Minagawa, G., Inagaki, T. and Tsukamoto, K. (2002) Distribution of leptocephali in the Kuroshio Current and East China Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 235, 279–238.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J., Aoyama, J., Mochioka, N., Otake, T., Castle, P.H.J., Minagawa, G., Inagaki, T. and Tsukamoto, K. (2006) Geographic variation in the assemblages of leptocephali in the western South Pacific. Deep-Sea Research I 53, 776–794.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J., Powell, J. and Tsukamoto, K. (2009) Observation of a large metamorphosing leptocephalus in a coral reef habitat at Sangeang Island, Indonesia. Zoological Studies 48, 107.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J., D'Avella, M.J. and Tsukamoto, K. (2010) Enlarged chromatophores in an actively swimming ophichthid leptocephalus observed over deep-water off Kona, Hawaii. Zoological Studies 49, 324.Google Scholar
Miller, M.J., Norman, M., Tsukamoto, K. and Finn, J. (2013) Curling behavior of eel larvae: apparent mimicry of gelatinous zooplankton for predator avoidance. Marine and Freshwater Behavior and Physiology 45, 375–384.Google Scholar
Mochioka, N., Kakuda, S. and Tabeta, O. (1982) Congrid leptocephali in the western North and Middle Pacific I, Exterilium Ariosoma-type larvae. Journal of the Faculty of Applied Biological Science of Hiroshima University 21, 35–66.Google Scholar
Moser, H.G. and Charter, S.R. (1996) Notacanthidae: spiny eels. In Moser, H.G. (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, pp. 82–85. [California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Atlas No. 33.]Google Scholar
Nelson, J.S. (2006) Fishes of the world. 4th edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Nolan, C.J. and Danilowicz, B.S. (2008) Advantages of using crest nets to sample presettlement larvae of reef fishes in the Caribbean Sea. Fishery Bulletin 106, 213–221.Google Scholar
Otake, T. (2003) Metamorphosis. In Aida, K., Tsukamoto, K. and Yamauchi, K. (eds) Eel biology. Tokyo: Springer, pp. 61–74.Google Scholar
Pfeiler, E. (1999) Developmental physiology of elopomorph leptocephali. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, A 123, 113–128.Google Scholar
Sadovy de Mitcheson, Y. and Liu, M. (2008) Functional hermaphroditism in teleosts. Fish and Fisheries 9, 1–43.Google Scholar
Smith, D.G. (1979) Guide to the leptocephali (Elopiformes, Anguilliformes, and Notacanthiformes). NOAA Technical Report NMFS Circular 424, US Department of Commerce, 39 pp.Google Scholar
Smith, D.G. (1989a) Introduction to leptocephali. In Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 9, Volume 2. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, pp. 657–668.Google Scholar
Smith, D.G. (1989b) Family Muraenidae: Leptocephali. In Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 9, Volume 2. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, pp. 900–916.Google Scholar
Smith, D.G. (1989c) Unidentified leptocephali. In Böhlke, E.B. (ed.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part 9, Volume 2. New Haven, CT: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, pp. 973–981.Google Scholar
Strehlow, B., Antunes, C., Niermann, U. and Tesch, F.-W. (1998) Distribution and ecological aspects of leptocephali collected 1979–1994 in North- and Central Atlantic. I. Congridae. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 52, 85–102.Google Scholar
Tabeta, O. (1970) A giant leptocephalus from the sea off northern Peru. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 17, 80–81.Google Scholar
Tawa, A. and Mochioka, N. (2009) Identification of aquarium-raised muraenid leptocephali, Gymnothorax minor . Ichthyological Research 56, 340–345.Google Scholar
Tawa, A. and Mochioka, N. (2012) Larval identification following metamorphosis in the slender brown moray Strophidon ui from the western North Pacific. Ichthyological Research 58, 8–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorrold, S.R., Shenker, J.M., Maddox, E.D., Mojica, R. and Wishinski, E. (1994a) Larval supply of shorefishes to nursery habitats around Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. II. Lunar and oceanographic influences. Marine Biology 118, 567–578.Google Scholar
Thorrold, S.R., Shenker, J.M., Mojica, R., Maddox, E.D. and Wishinski, E. (1994b) Temporal patterns in the larval supply of summer-recruiting reef fishes to Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 112, 75–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsukamoto, K. (1992) Discovery of the spawning area for the Japanese eel. Nature 356, 789–791.Google Scholar
Wouthuyzen, S., Miller, M.J., Aoyama, J., Minagawa, G., Sugeha, Y.H., Suharti, S., Inagaki, T. and Tsukamoto, K. (2005) Biodiversity of anguilliform leptocephali in the central Indonesian Seas. Bulletin of Marine Science 77, 209–224.Google Scholar