American and European eels do not just spawn anywhere. They reportedly migrate to a particular place near the Bermuda Triangle to produce young ones.
Eels Bermuda Triangle
Scientists wonder where eels come from. They spawned in the Sargasso Sea - near the Bermuda Triangle. Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt did biological surveys in the area over 100 years ago and found logs of young eels. He concluded that they were hatched there.
However, there were no eggs or adult eels in the area, which left them wondering why there were young ones there. The 1-meter-long European eel that locals knew came from their local river did originate from a sub-tropical sea up to 10,000 kilometers distant, as a team of researchers was able to confirm. The greatest brains in history lacked the wonderful technology that our team possessed.
Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags are a relatively new tracking tool that gives scientists access to previously unattainable data on the movements of marine organisms. The tags keep track of the creatures' movements, including their location, speed, and even depth of dive. The tags then separate and float to the surface, where they may send information back to the curious scientists.
Although the migration of the European eel is remarkable, it is still a mystery. Yes, even the eels in home ponds, which may slither downland to the sea with only a little rain, are part of the mainland population and come from the same spawning location.
All European and American eels are reportedly born in the Sargasso Sea. No matter where they live, they will travel thousands of kilometers to spawn near the Bermuda Triangle.
How Eels Evolve?
While European eels spend most of their adult lives in various fresh and brackish waterways throughout Europe and Northern Africa, they are born in the subtropical Sargasso Sea. Biologists have long been baffled by how eels adapt to such varied surroundings. A team of researchers led by Uppsala University uses whole-genome analysis to provide unmistakable proof that all European eels, regardless of where they spend their adult lives, are members of a single panmictic population.
Biology places a major emphasis on how species adapt to their surroundings.
Evolutionary change is supported by genetic modifications that help people survive in unfamiliar or unstable circumstances. Differences in the frequency of gene variations between subgroups within a species can be used to identify these changes.
Alternately, phenotypic plasticity refers to the ability of individuals to adapt to changing surroundings without undergoing genetic alteration. Eels, for instance, change their osmoregulation when they migrate from saltwater to freshwater.
Dr. Håkan Wickström, a co-author from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, adds that eels have a wonderfully intriguing life cycle and undergo a number of transformation stages. The Sargasso Sea is the site of spawning, and the young then migrate as leptocephali larvae until they reach the continents of Europe or Africa, when they change into glass eels.
After entering brackish or freshwater, glass eels change into yellow eels. Later, they grow into silver eels and return to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce, making two trips across the Atlantic. Then they all pass away.
RELATED ARTICLE : Prehistoric Alligator-Like Fish Washed Up Ashore in Singapore 10,000 Miles Away From Its Native Home
Check out more news and information on Animals in Science Times.
