Daytime habitat use by Japanese eel in small streams in Shikoku, southwestern Japan

Daytime habitat use by Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) at the yellow eel stage (total length ≥ 15 cm) and the newly recruited glass/elver stage in spring (total length 5–7 cm) was examined in three sites of different types of streams in southwestern Japan. Although habitat use by yellow eels was examined in summer and winter, no distinct difference was found between the two seasons. Yellow eels preferred lower current velocity in all the three sites in both seasons. Cover use by yellow eels differed among the three sites having different cover-type availability. In a coarse-substrate mountain stream, the majority of yellow eels used cobble/boulders as cover, whereas in the other two fine-substrate streams, where coarse substrates were rare, large parts of yellow eels burrowed into fine sediments. In addition, undercut bank and bank vegetation were substantially used and preferred by yellow eels depending on the study site, suggesting the importance of natural bank habitat. The majority of glass/elver eels used sand substrates with current velocity < 10 cm·s⁻¹ in all the three sites, suggesting their clear preference for such habitat. However, the preference for sand shown in this study contrasts with a general trend established by previous experimental studies that glass/elver eels prefer stony substrates over sand. Our results contrary to the general trend could be attributed to glass/elver eels displaying a stronger preference for slow currents over stony substrates, implying that current velocity has a dominant effect in habitat use by glass/elver eels under natural conditions.