Studies on eels and leptocephali in Southeast Asia : A new research frontier
2006
Miller, Michael J. | Tsukamoto, Katsumi
Leptocephali are the unique type of fish larvae of eels and their close relatives, which are abundant in the upper few hundred meters of the world's tropical and subtropical oceans. Historically there have been few studies on leptocephali in Southeast Asia because these larvae require special fishing techniques to collect and are difficult to identify and match with their adult species. Recent cooperative sampling surveys for leptocephali in the Indonesian Seas region have indicated that there is a high biodiversity of eels in the region, so more taxonomic research to distinguish the many species of leptocephali of more than 20 families of eels and their relatives is needed to facilitate detailed studies on the biodiversity and ecology of these fishes. Several techniques such as fishing large plankton nets offshore or using set nets in coastal areas with strong tidal flow can be used to collect leptocephali, and a new field guide to identifying the major taxa of leptocephali in the region has been recently published. Examination of metamorphosing larvae entering coastal areas is one method to help match larval and adult forms, and a more modern technique is to compare molecular genetic characters between larval and adult specimens, but this requires the collection and proper tissue preservation of both leptocephali and adults. These types of studies and those on the ecology of eels and their larvae represent a new research frontier in marine biodiversity science in Southeast Asia, which is the center of marine biodiversity worldwide.
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