Lasse Riemann

All roads lead to home: panmixia of European eel in the Sargasso Sea

European eels (Anguilla anguilla) spawn in the remote Sargasso Sea in partial sympatry with American eels (Anguilla rostrata), and juveniles are transported more than 5000 km back to the European and North African coasts. The two species have been regarded as classic textbook examples of panmixia, each comprising a single, randomly mating population. However, several recent studies based on continental samples have found subtle, but significant, genetic differentiation, interpreted as geographical or temporal heterogeneity between samples. Moreover, European and American eels can hybridize, but hybrids have been observed almost exclusively in Iceland, suggesting hybridization in a specific region of the Sargasso Sea and subsequent nonrandom dispersal of larvae. Here, we report the first molecular population genetics study based on analysis of 21 microsatellite loci in larvae of both Atlantic eel species sampled directly in the spawning area, supplemented by analysis of European glass eel samples. Despite a clear East-West gradient in the overlapping distribution of the two species in the Sargasso Sea, we only observed a single putative hybrid, providing evidence against the hypothesis of a wide marine hybrid zone. Analyses of genetic differentiation, isolation by distance, isolation by time and assignment tests provided strong evidence for panmixia in both the Sargasso Sea and across all continental samples of European eel after accounting for the presence of sibs among newly hatched larvae. European eel has declined catastrophically, and our findings call for management of the species as a single unit, necessitating coordinated international conservation efforts.

Bacterial community composition during two consecutive NE Monsoon periods in the Arabian Sea studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of rRNA genes

Abstract Horizontal and vertical variations in bacterial community composition were examined in samples collected during two Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) Arabian Sea cruises in 1995. The cruises, 11 months apart, took place during two consecutive NE Monsoon periods (January and December). Bacteria were harvested by filtration from samples collected in the mixed layer, mid-water, and deep sea at stations across the study area. Total bacterial community genomic DNA was analyzed by PCR amplification of 16S rRNA gene fragments, followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). In total, 20 DGGE bands reflecting unique or varying phylotypes were excised, cloned and sequenced. Amplicons were dominated by bacterial groups commonly found in oceanic waters (e.g., the SAR11 cluster of α -Proteobacteria and cyanobacteria), but surprisingly none of the sequenced amplicons were related to γ -Proteobacteria or to members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacter-Bacteroides phylum. Amplicons related to magnetotactic bacteria were found for the first time in pelagic oceanic waters. The DGGE banding patterns revealed a dominance of ≈15 distinguishable amplicons in all samples. In the mixed layer the bacterial community was dominated by the same ≈15 phylotypes at all stations, but unique phylotypes were found with increasing depth. Except for cyanobacteria, comparison of the bacterial community composition in surface waters from January and December 1995 showed only minor differences, despite significant differences in environmental parameters. These data suggest a horizontal homogeneity and some degree of seasonal predictability of bacterial community composition in the Arabian Sea.

Qualitative assessment of the diet of European eel larvae in the Sargasso Sea resolved by DNA barcoding

European eels (Anguilla anguilla) undertake spawning migrations of more than 5000 km from continental Europe and North Africa to frontal zones in the Sargasso Sea. Subsequently, the larval offspring are advected by large-scale eastward ocean currents towards continental waters. However, the Sargasso Sea is oligotrophic, with generally low plankton biomass, and the feeding biology of eel larvae has so far remained a mystery, hampering understanding of this peculiar life history. DNA barcoding of gut contents of 61 genetically identified A. anguilla larvae caught in the Sargasso Sea showed that even the smallest larvae feed on a striking variety of plankton organisms, and that gelatinous zooplankton is of fundamental dietary importance. Hence, the specific plankton composition seems essential for eel larval feeding and growth, suggesting a linkage between eel survival and regional plankton productivity. These novel insights into the prey of Atlantic eels may furthermore facilitate eel larval rearing in aquaculture, which ultimately may replace the unsustainable use of wild-caught glass eels.