Tracking recruitment pathways of Chromis viridis in the Gulf of Aqaba using otolith chemistry

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 359:229-238 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07343 Tracking recruitment pathways of Chromis viridis in the Gulf of Aqaba using otolith chemistry O. Ben-Tzvi1,2,*,**, M. Kiflawi1,3, S. D. Gaines4, M. Al-Zibdah5, M. S. Sheehy4, G. L. Paradis4,6, A. Abelson2,** 1The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat, PO Box 469, Eilat 88103, Israel 2Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel 3Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel 4Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA 5Marine Science Station, University of Jordan and Yarmouk University, PO Box 195 Aqaba, Jordan 6Department of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA **Email: obentzvi@gmail.com**These authors contributed equally to this work ABSTRACT: Connectivity among coral reef fish populations is a key factor in governing the structure and dynamics of marine communities and should therefore be taken into account in management and conservation plans. Determining connectivity patterns is a challenging task, since direct tracking of larval trajectories is essentially impossible. During the last decade, however, there have been some significant achievements in the form of indirect tracking of larval sources. Some of these are based on trace elements incorporated into the otoliths of dispersing larvae, which may assist in the identification of natal origins and provide some information about larval trajectories. In this study an attempt was made to infer the dispersal trajectories of larval Chromis viridis (Pomacentridae) that recruit to populations along the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea). The patterns of trace-element signals found in otoliths (identified by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), complemented by the spatial structure in pelagic larval durations (PLD), suggest that the northern populations (i.e. Aqaba and Eilat) of C. viridis are seeded by larvae that disperse along more than one route from sources along the Saudi and Sinai (Egyptian) coasts. The study findings imply that any sound management plans or conservation measures for coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba should be regional, and should ideally involve collaboration among all the adjacent countries. KEY WORDS: Connectivity · Larval stage · Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry · LA-ICPMS · Trace-elemental signature · Red Sea Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ben-Tzvi O, Kiflawi M, Gaines SD, Al-Zibdah M, Sheehy MS, Paradis GL, Abelson A (2008) Tracking recruitment pathways of Chromis viridis in the Gulf of Aqaba using otolith chemistry. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 359:229-238. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07343Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 359. Online publication date: May 05, 2008 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.