In physoclist fishes filling of the swimbladder requires acid secretion of gas gland cells to switch on the Root effect and subsequent countercurrent concentration of the initial gas partial pressure increase by back-diffusion of gas molecules in the rete mirabile. However, the key morphological innovation elsewhere in the eel's life history coincides with the evolutionary origin of its Hox repertoire. Theories of vertebrate evolution predict that the retention of functional, duplicate Hox genes can give rise to additional developmental complexity, which is not immediately apparent in the adult. Using mRNA-sequencing and in situ hybridizations, we demonstrate that all copies are expressed in early embryos. We show that unlike any other teleost fish, the eel retains fully populated, duplicate Hox clusters, which originated at the teleost-specific genome duplication. Here, we use the genome to investigate the eel's complement of the Hox developmental transcription factors. We have assembled a draft genome in order to facilitate advances in all provinces of eel biology. Recently, eel research has gained in urgency, as the population has dwindled to the point of critical endangerment. The enigmatic life cycle and elongated body of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L., 1758) have long motivated scientific enquiry.
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March 2023
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