Bile acid concentrations in tissues of American eel that were held at Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, as derived from liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

The American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is an imperiled fish hypothesized to use conspecific cues, in part, to coordinate long distance migration during their multi-stage life history. Here, tissues from multiple American eel life stages were collected and analyzed for the presence and concentration of bile acids. Specifically, samples were collected in the Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory during June 2016 from yellow eel liver, intestine, and gall bladder. Whole body bile acids were also evaluated in glass and elver stage American eel. All eels were held at Northern Appalachian Research Laboratory, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, prior to sampling. Bile acid analysis was conducted using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry and quantified taurochenodeoxycholic, taurodeoxycholic, cholic, deoxycholic, taurolithocholic, taurocholic, tauroursodeoxycholic, taurohyodeoxycholic, oxodeoxycholic, ursodeoxycholic, hyodeoxycholic, chenodeoxycholic, and lithocholic acid concentration. This data set is novel because little was previously known about bile acids that were produced by American eels. The data are presented as a spreadsheet.