TY - JOUR
T1 - Head shape disparity impacts pollutant accumulation in European eel
AU - De Meyer, Jens
AU - Belpaire, Claude
AU - Boeckx, Pascal
AU - Bervoets, Lieven
AU - Covaci, Adrian
AU - Malarvannan, Govindan
AU - De Kegel, Barbara
AU - Adriaens, Dominique
N1 - Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Several aspects of the life cycle of the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla) remain poorly understood. One such aspect is the broad-versus narrow-head dimorphism, and how this impacts their overall performance at different stages of their life cycle. At the yellow eel stage, the phenotypes show a trophic divergence. We investigated whether pollutant accumulation is affected by this disparity. We show that broad-headed eels contained higher concentrations of mercury and several lipophilic organic pollutants, compared to narrow-headed ones, irrespective of their fat content. The hereby confirmed link between the phenotypic disparity, its associated feeding ecology and its impact on pollutant accumulation thus raises further concerns about their migratory and reproductive success. Considering that pollution is an important contributor to the European eel's decline, our results demonstrate that broad-headed eels are more vulnerable to detrimental pollutant accumulation. This compromises their successful contribution to their population's reproduction and its restoration.
AB - Several aspects of the life cycle of the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla) remain poorly understood. One such aspect is the broad-versus narrow-head dimorphism, and how this impacts their overall performance at different stages of their life cycle. At the yellow eel stage, the phenotypes show a trophic divergence. We investigated whether pollutant accumulation is affected by this disparity. We show that broad-headed eels contained higher concentrations of mercury and several lipophilic organic pollutants, compared to narrow-headed ones, irrespective of their fat content. The hereby confirmed link between the phenotypic disparity, its associated feeding ecology and its impact on pollutant accumulation thus raises further concerns about their migratory and reproductive success. Considering that pollution is an important contributor to the European eel's decline, our results demonstrate that broad-headed eels are more vulnerable to detrimental pollutant accumulation. This compromises their successful contribution to their population's reproduction and its restoration.
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.128
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.128
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
C2 - 29751333
VL - 240
SP - 378
EP - 386
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
SN - 0269-7491
ER -