West Sutherland Elver Survey
West Sutherland Elver Survey
West Sutherland Elver Survey
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<strong>West</strong> <strong>Sutherland</strong> <strong>Elver</strong> <strong>Survey</strong> 2008<br />
evidence suggests that there may be 3 minor sub populations, Northern Europe, Central and<br />
Mediterranean and North Africa.<br />
Figure 2: Distribution patterns of European eel larvae with the size of the larvae in mm (from Schmidt 1923).<br />
Within a few days of spawning eel eggs metamorphose into transparent blade shaped larvae<br />
(Leptocephali), which drift to Europe on the Gulf Stream and the North-Atlantic Drift.<br />
Leptocephali are retained in the currents that transport them to Europe initially by passively<br />
drifting in the main current along the Eastern American seaboard at a depth of 50-300m.<br />
Then as they grow larger than 5mm they gradually change to an active vertical migration<br />
behaviour catching the currents travelling across the Atlantic, moving to shallow warm<br />
depths (35–125m) at night then diving to deeper, colder depths (300–600m) during daylight.<br />
In November to April, after 8-9 months in the Atlantic, leptocephali reach European<br />
continental waters between southwest Europe and northwest Africa and metamorphose<br />
into 50mm long (
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