Genetic analysis of the American eel helps explain its decline
Thursday, May 28, 2015 - 11:00
in Biology & Nature
The American eel has been a concern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 2007, when it was first considered for, but failed to receive, Endangered Species Act protection. The numbers of these slender, slimy, ancient fish in freshwater areas have been decreasing rapidly due to dams, pollution, and overfishing, but scientists have been puzzled as to why the fish can't recolonize. Now, a new look at eel genetics published on May 28 in Current Biology finds that there are differences between eels that feed in freshwater and eels that feed in brackish environments that were previously thought to be genetically interchangeable.