The future of European eels—a critically-endangered species—is under threat from toxic metals found in the rivers and lakes where they live, research by an international team including the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows.
The future of European eels—a critically-endangered species—is under threat from toxic metals found in the rivers and lakes where they live, research by an international team including the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows.
Eels devour their own skeletons on the journey to their spawning grounds, diverting their energy to their reproductive organs. But the unique process is also concentrating toxic metals in eels’ ovaries, the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has found.
Mercury, copper and other metals—by-products of industrial activity—were detected in the ovaries of European eels about to lay eggs, potentially jeopardizing their ability to reproduce successfully.
“Few people realize just how precarious the European eel population is,” said Markus Brinkmann, an eco-toxicologist in USask’s School of Environment and Sustainability. “There has been a dramatic reduction in the numbers of young eels returning to Europe’s rivers, lakes and coastal areas in the past 40 years, to the point that they are now critically endangered.”
Read more at University of Saskatchewan
Image: European eels devour their own skeletons on the 6,000-kilometer journey to their spawning grounds. But the unique process is also concentrating toxic metals in eels' ovaries, threatening their survival. (Credit: Marko Freese. Thünen Institute for Fisheries Ecology)
