this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Mystery solved! (mander.xyz)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] Xanthrax@lemmy.world 40 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

That makes sense. It's relatively warm; there's a bunch of seaweed, and the waters are calm.

Edit: Wait, how was this a mystery?

"The 1920–1922 Dana expeditions, led by Johannes Schmidt, determined that the European eel's breeding sites were in the Sargasso Sea."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargasso_Sea

[–] IMongoose@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago

Hank Green can tell you the full mystery:

https://youtu.be/acEIGorImGs?si=_xi2IF-GEssAuyZ-

tl:dw: We knew that's where baby eels came from but we didn't know how the adults got there or what the larvae looked like. Baby eel larvae was misidentified as another species and adult eel can take up to 18 months traveling at the bottom of the ocean to get there, during which time they grow their gonads which was another mystery.

[–] steal_your_face@lemmy.ml 11 points 10 months ago

for anyone curious it got its name from the seaweed that grows there https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargassum

[–] tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] powerofm@lemmy.ca 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What, every eel in the world?

[–] WeirdAlex03@lemmy.zip 31 points 10 months ago (3 children)

First line even before the main article

Summarized: Key Takeaways

  1. The Sargasso Sea is the breeding ground for all freshwater eels, where they travel thousands of miles to spawn and then die.
[–] olicvb@lemmy.ca 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

~~Am I missing something? How is it a freshwater eel if they're in the sea?~~

oh damn they migrate to the sea before reproduction

Confusing when you think of freshwater fish that can't survive in saltwater. So then i'm guessing the baby eels just spread back out to freshwater sources

[–] dalekcaan@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Tbf salmon do the same thing

[–] olicvb@lemmy.ca 28 points 10 months ago

shit that's right

OMG this came to mind:

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] nieminen@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Love your icon and name. Metroid FTW

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago
[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Wait, aren't there some eels that exclusively live in freshwater caves?

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Underwater at least; there are fresh water eels.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

From the included article-

When it’s time to mate, eels are very determined to make it to their breeding site at the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea, a two-million-square-mile span of ocean,  is the site in which all freshwater eels mate

It’s way the hell down there in the article, though. Apparently they travel to freshwater as larva.

Eels are freaking weird, man.

[–] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago

Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing!

[–] RacoonVegetable@reddthat.com 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

“What’s a nibba gotta do to get some eel D!!!”

— Sam O’Nella

[–] atocci@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

As it turns out, eels don't grow their testes until mating season, which is why Freud was unable to find them.

[–] flicker@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

This is absolutely wild! I'm so glad I saw this today.