The influence of phytoestrogens and oestradiol-17β on growth and sex determination in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Under aquaculture conditions, European eels (Anguilla anguilla) produce a high percentage of males (80–95%) that normally stop growing at 100–200 g. Females continue to grow to 500–750 g and obtain higher market value. Therefore, increasing the percentage of females in a population would be beneficial to the culture of eels. The present study was carried out in order to examine the effect of oestradiol and phytooestrogens on sex differentiation and growth rate of eels. Juvenile European eels with undifferentiated gonads were fed pellets containing oestradiol-17β (E2) or phytooestrogens for 100–150 days. Feeding E2 resulted in 50–61% increase in body weight compared with the control. Oestradiol-17β and phytooestrogens both elevated significantly the percentage of females in the population. Feeding E2 at 20 mg kg−1 feed resulted in 70% females, while lower concentration of E2 (2 mg kg−1) resulted in only 30% after 100 days (Experiment 1). The same dose given for 150 days (Experiment 2) resulted in 88% females, indicating that both, the concentration and duration of E2 treatments had a significant effect on sex differentiation. Fish fed genistein at 2 mg kg−1 for 100 days, resulted in 55% of females, but at a higher dose of 20 mg kg−1 there were only 15% females. These results demonstrate that phytooestrogens can be used as alternatives to gonadal steroids for sex manipulation in eels, but the optimal concentrations and duration are still to be determined.