(Convener: Boetius; Rapporteur: McGovern)
33. Tzeng and Tsai discussed two hypothetical spawning sites for Anguilla japonica by studying glasseel otolith microstructure taken fom sites around the coast of Taiwan. Interpretation of the microstructure itself was difficult. However, the pattern of the microstructure between samples was tested for homogeneity. The results suggested that only one spawning site exists.
34. Incremental growth patterns in glasseel otoliths were studied by Lecomte. Daily growth rings were confirmed by using tetracycline. This suggested that the Atlantic journey could occur in 7 to 9 months and differs from the data of Schmidt. Tesch, in discussion, drew attention to a thesis from Jansen (1991) which came to a different result for the age of the oceanic stage, including metamorphosis, of the glasseel which was 480 days.
35. Guerault et al., suggested a different interpretation of the transatlantic migration of leptocephalus larvae from the Sargasso Sea to the European coast. They reconstructed the early life of the larvae. The length and path of the glasseel migration could be the reason behind the variation in size and condition factor of glasseels in the Bay of Biscay.
