Abstract
The Japanese nation has a long history of using freshwater eels as food, and these days up to ~100,000 t of eels per year are consumed there, about 70 % of the world’s eel consumption (Kuroki and Tsukamoto 2012). In this context, there is no doubt that Japanese have a closer relationship with eels than any other nation in the world, and therefore need to take a heavy responsibility for their conservation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aoyama J, Nishida M, Tsukamoto K (2001) Molecular phylogeny and evolution of the freshwater eel, genus Anguilla. Mol Phylogenet Evol 20:450–459
Chow S, Kurogi H, Mochioka N, Kaji S, Okazaki M, Tsukamoto K (2009) Discovery of mature freshwater eels in the open ocean. Fish Sci 75:257–259
Fontaine M (1936) Sur la maturation des organes de l’anguille mâle et l’émission spontanée de ses produits sexuels. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, vol 202. Série I, Mathématique, pp 1312–1314
Hagihara S, Aoyama J, Limbong D, Tsukamoto K (2012) Morphological and physiological changes of female tropical eels, Anguilla celebesensis and Anguilla marmorata, in relation to downstream migration. J Fish Biol 81:408–426
Ida T (2007) Unagi: Chikyū kankyō o kataru sakana (Eels: the fish that tell us about the global environment). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 225 pp (in Japanese)
Inoue JG, Miya M, Miller MJ, Sado T, Hanel R, López JA, Hatooka K et al (2010) Deep ocean origin of the freshwater eel. Biol Lett 6:363–366
Kim H, Kimura S, Shinoda A, Kitagawa T, Sasai Y, Sasaki H (2007) Effect of El Niño on migration and larval transport of the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. ICES J Mar Sci 64:1387–1395
Kimura S, Tsukamoto K (2006) The salinity front in the North Equatorial Current: a landmark for the spawning migration of the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) related to the stock recruitment. Deep Sea Res II: Top Stud Oceanogr 53:315–325
Kimura S, Inoue T, Sugimoto T (2001) Fluctuation in the distribution of low-salinity water in the North Equatorial Current and its effect on the larval transport of the Japanese eel. Fish Oceanogr 10:51–60
Kurogi H, Okazaki M, Mochioka N, Jinbo T, Hashimoto H, Takahashi M, Tawa A et al (2011) First capture of post-spawning female of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica at the southern West Mariana Ridge. Fish Sci 77:199–205
Kuroki M, Tsukamoto K (2012) Eels on the move – mysterious creatures over millions of years. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, 278 pp
Kuroki M, Aoyama J, Miller MJ, Wouthuyzen S, Arai T, Tsukamoto K (2006) Contrasting patterns of growth and migration of tropical anguillid leptocephali in the western Pacific and Indonesian Seas. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 309:233–246
Kuroki M, Miller MJ, Aoyama J, Watanabe S, Yoshinaga T, Tsukamoto K (2012) Offshore spawning for the newly discovered anguillid species Anguilla luzonensis (Teleostei: Anguillidae) in the western North Pacific. Pac Sci 66:497–507
Morse, E. S. 1879. Shell mounds of Omori. Memoirs of the Science Department, University of Tokio, 1: 1–36, plus 18 Plates.
Satoh H, Nakamura N, Hibiya T (1962) Studies on the sexual maturation of the eel. 1. On the sex differentiation and the maturing process of the gonads. Bull Jpn Soc Scientific Fish 28:579–584
Sugeha HY, Arai T, Miller MJ, Limbong D, Tsukamoto K (2001) Inshore migration of the tropical eels Anguilla spp. recruiting to the Poigar River estuary on north Sulawesi Island. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 221:233–243
Takayama J (2009) Mikuroneshia-jin ga Unagi wo Kinki suru Shūzoku no Kigen [Origin of the custom of eel taboos in micronesia]. Rokuichi Shobō, Tokyo, 220 pp (in Japanese)
Tanaka H, Kagawa H, Ohta H, Unuma T, Nomura K (2003) The first production of glass eel in captivity: fish reproductive physiology facilitates great progress in aquaculture. Fish Physiol Biochem 28:493–497
Tsukamoto K (2006) Spawning of eels near a seamount. Nature 439:929
Tsukamoto K, Nakai I, Tesch FW (1998) Do all freshwater eels migrate? Nature 396:635–636
Tsukamoto K, Chow S, Otake T, Kurogi H, Mochioka N, Miller MJ, Aoyama J et al (2011) Oceanic spawning ecology of freshwater eels in the western North Pacific. Nat Commun 2:179
Watanabe S, Aoyama J, Tsukamoto K (2009) A new species of freshwater eel Anguilla luzonensis (Teleostei: Anguillidae) from Luzon Island of the Philippines. Fish Sci 75:387–392
Yamamoto K, Yamauchi K (1974) Sexual maturation of Japanese eel and production of eel larvae in the aquarium. Nature 251:220–222
Yamauchi K, Nakamura M, Takahashi H, Takano K (1976) Cultivation of larvae of Japanese eel. Nature 263:412
Zenimoto K, Kitagawa T, Miyazaki S, Sasai T, Sasaki H, Kimura S (2009) The effects of seasonal and interannual variability of oceanic structure in the western Pacific North Equatorial Current on larval transport of the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica). J Fish Biol 74:1878–1890
Acknowledgements
We thank all the people who provided materials, artefacts, and information about the Japanese eel for this chapter, and gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nico Korenhof (Naturalis) for scanning the originals of Keiga’s watercolours and Bürger’s description. We also thank Andrew Driver for his help in improving the English.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Japan
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kuroki, M., van Oijen, M.J.P., Tsukamoto, K. (2014). Eels and the Japanese: An Inseparable, Long-Standing Relationship. In: Tsukamoto, K., Kuroki, M. (eds) Eels and Humans. Humanity and the Sea. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54529-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54529-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-54528-6
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-54529-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)