Leptocephali are the unique larvae of eels and their relatives of the teleost superorder Elopomorpha that have remained poorly understood despite their ubiquitous presence at tropical to temperate latitudes. This review examines recent advancements in understanding the behavioral ecology and distribution of leptocephali. Their regional distributions and abundance are determined by when and where the adults spawn and seemingly if the larvae use active behavior for retention, passively drift, or swim actively to facilitate recruitment, but there is little direct evidence about their possible use of dispersal/retention or swimming behaviors. They typically reside within or above the thermocline at night offshore (< 100 m), some vertically migrate deeper during daytime (< 300 m), and they may move considerably deeper near continental shelves, but some also reside at the surface, and there may be taxonomic differences in vertical distributions. At what depths or times of day they feed on marine snow-associated materials is unclear. The extreme transparency of leptocephali and use of shape-change behaviors or expandable chromatophores along with their gut swellings or external appendages may be adaptations for reducing predation rates through Batesian mimicry of gelatinous zooplankton. Many questions remain about their behavior and ecology, but the basic strategy of the leptocephalus larval form appears to be based on feeding on readily available marine snow, behavioral abilities and morphological features to reduce predation, a body filled with transparent gelatinous energy reserves for active swimming, and growth to large sizes that enable recruitment at larger sizes than typical fish larvae.

中文翻译：

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细头鱼的行为生态学和分布：具有不可预见能力的海鱼幼虫

Leptocephali 是鳗鱼的独特幼虫及其硬骨鱼超目 Elopomorpha 的亲戚，尽管它们在热带到温带纬度无处不在，但人们对它们的了解仍然很少。这篇综述考察了最近在理解细头虫的行为生态学和分布方面的进展。它们的区域分布和丰度取决于成虫产卵的时间和地点，以及幼虫是否使用主动行为进行保留、被动漂流或主动游泳以促进募集，但几乎没有直接证据表明它们可能使用分散/保留或游泳行为。它们通常在夜间离岸温跃层内或上方（< 100 m），有些在白天垂直迁移（< 300 m），并且它们可能在大陆架附近移动得更深，但有些也存在于地表，在垂直分布上可能存在分类学差异。它们在什么深度或一天中的什么时间以海洋雪相关物质为食尚不清楚。leptocephali 的极端透明度和使用形状变化行为或可扩展的色素细胞以及它们的肠道肿胀或外部附件可能是通过对凝胶状浮游动物的贝茨模拟来降低捕食率的适应性。许多关于它们的行为和生态的问题仍然存在，但钩头鱼幼虫形态的基本策略似乎是基于以现成的海洋雪、行为能力和形态特征为食，以减少捕食，身体充满透明的凝胶状能量储备，可用于主动游泳,