Influence of swimming form on otolith δ13C in marine fish

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 258:283-289 (2003) - doi:10.3354/meps258283 Influence of swimming form on otolith δ13C in marine fish Graham D. Sherwood*, George A. Rose Fisheries Conservation Chair, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, PO Box 4920, St. John¹s, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1C 5R3, Canada *Email: grahamsherwood@hotmail.com ABSTRACT: While temperature records are available from otolith δ18O profiles in fish, interpreting changes in otolith δ13C remains ambiguous. We compiled a global database of published otolith δ13C values for 60 species representing 30 families of marine fishes. Species¹ mean otolith δ13C ranged from +0.5 to -8.6 ‰. Among-family variance in otoli δ13C was uniquely explained by a morphometric index for aerobic swimming activity (caudal aspect ratio, r2 = 0.61). The models that consistently explained the maximum among-species variance in otolith &symbol;13C included caudal aspect ratio and maximum depth of occurrence. Our analysis supports the use of otolith carbon-isotope ratios to indicate metabolism (primarily active) in marine fish. This information may be applied to studies of fish feeding and related food-web structure, both past and present. KEY WORDS: Otolith · Stable isotopes · δ13C · Marine fish · Metabolism · Swimming activity · Caudal aspect ratio · Morphometrics Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 258. Online publication date: August 29, 2003 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2003 Inter-Research.