Theory 12/Navigation
Migration Is Fuel Against Distance
The claim
Eel spawning migration success is set by the ratio of lipid reserves to distance, so a fish that runs out of fat before arrival dies without spawning.
01Mechanism
The migration is powered entirely by stored lipid; the ratio determines whether the fish arrives with enough left to mature gonads.
02Predictions
- P1Arrival should track the ratio.
- P2Body size alone should mispredict.
03Refutation
Arrival tracking distance would remove the reserve term.
04Why it resists the grid
The spawning ground was unknown for centuries because the animals are never observed there — the theory outruns the evidence.