Life history characteristics and strategies of the American eel, Anguilla rostrata

Several life history hypotheses for the American eel, Anguilla rostrata, we re examined using seaward-migrating silver-phase eels collected in the Anna quatucket River, Rhode Island, U.S.A. Female eels were significantly larger and older than males. Female eels also had a significantly higher mean gro wth rate. The addition of life history data from Annaquatucket River eels t o published silver eel data from locations throughout the eels' range shows that female size at migration is positively correlated with latitude (r = 0.56, p = 0.05) but male size is not (r = 0.54, p = 0.17). Female age was n ot related to latitude (r = 0.57, p = 0.27) but male age showed a positive relationship (r = 0.87, p = 0.05). Growth rates for females and males were inversely related to latitude (r = -0.98, p = 0.02 and r = -0.95, p = 0.05, respectively). Differences between the latitudinal relationships and life history traits of the sexes may be due to differences in life history strat egies.