Contrasting riverine distribution and habitat use of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, and the giant mottled eel, Anguilla marmorata, in a sympatric river

Abstract

Electrofishing and visual observations revealed contrasting riverine distribution and habitat use of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, and the giant mottled eel, Anguilla marmorata, in a relatively gentle-slope river of Southern Kyushu, Japan. A. japonica was distributed in the lower and upper reaches. A. marmorata inhabited the middle reaches with relatively fast water velocity, heterogeneous water depth, coarse substrata and no adjacent paddy fields. This may have important conservation implications because a decrease in environmental diversity and/or river connectivity could result in the disappearance of A. marmorata habitats.

Keywords: Japan; Kedo River; freshwater eel; habitat segregation; habitat use; southern Kyushu.