catadromous
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌkætəˈdrɒməs/
- Specialized
- All of these native species are diadromous; the American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is catadromous, and the others are amphidromous.
- the American catadromous species
Examples
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In a reverse pattern, American eels are catadromous; they are born in the Sargasso Sea and migrate as juveniles to freshwater rivers.
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Eels are the only freshwater fish in New York that are catadromous—meaning they migrate out to sea to spawn.
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Each coast has only one strongly catadromous species: the American eel and the European eel (Anguilla anguilla).
Academic text (2009) -
Expression of these genes at different sexual stages of the eels' maturity aids their adaptation to different environments during their catadromous life cycle (freshwater and deep sea; Zhang et al. 2000).
Academic text (2010) -
American eels are catadromous and, therefore, face different migration constraints than do amphidromous fish because they actively migrate downstream as adults and ascend rivers as juveniles.
Academic text (2013) -
American eels are catadromous and migrate downstream as adults before returning to the sea to reproduce.
Synonyms
1
9.9
Fish that move between rivers and the sea during their life
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
catadromous = cata + drom + ous
The word is built from learned Greek combining forms (cata- + drom- + -ous) that are technical and not transparent to an average B1 learner who does not know classical morphemes.
Etymology
The word catadromous comes from Greek parts kata- meaning 'down' and dromos meaning 'running' or 'route', so it pictures fish 'running down' from rivers to the sea to lay eggs. So today catadromous describes fish that live in fresh water but travel down to the sea to lay eggs.