DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF CEL LARVAE (LEPTO CEPHALI AND ELVERS) OF EUROPEAN CEL (ANGUILLA-ANGUILLA L 1758) - MIGRATIONS AND METAMORPHOSIS

This first part presents a review of the actual state of knowledge on leptocephalus-stage and its transatlantic migration. Leptocephalus is completely different in body shape and color from continental stages. In the Sargasso Sea, after hatching, its size is about 2.2 mm. After t he transatlantic migration, after 1, 2 or 3 years (duration varies wit h authors), its final size is about 65 to 75 mm. The second part deals with the glass-eel stage and its anadromous migration. After metamorp hosis, off the European continental shelf glass-eel stage is attained. The eel has now attained its final appearence. During the anadromous migration, the. pigmentation progresses. Melanophores develop along th e entire body. This stage is called elver. When the pigmentation has c ompletely developed, the young yellow-eel stage is reached. Glass eels arrive all along the year on the Atlantic coasts and on Mediterranean coasts. In tidal areas (Atlantic), tidals currents carry the glass ee ls into the estuaries. Odour is used for orientation. Glass-eels fishe ries are of great importance in France. Data show a strong decrease in production from 1976 to 1990. A similar decline is observed all along the European Atlantic coasts. Do the European eels, regarded common t o the last decade, require to be considered as a threated species?