Abstract
AbstractThe spatiotemporal variability in strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), magnesium (Mg), and manganese (Mn) elemental signatures of water and fish otoliths was assessed from July to October 2008 across river habitats of Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. We examined whether relationships in these signatures exist and the potential of otoliths to serve as innate chemical tags. Hatchery‐reared age‐0 striped bass Morone saxatilis were placed in cages at four different locations to test development of habitat‐specific otolith signatures. Dissolved elemental water and otolith signatures exhibited spatial variability but did not vary temporally. Chemical water signatures classified habitats with 76–81% accuracy, and otolith signatures of caged fish displayed 59–63% total classification accuracy depending on the classification method used. The elements Sr, Ba, and Mn were the main habitat discriminators, as their concentrations in otoliths were significantly correlated with concentrations in the water. Otolith Mg was not related to water chemistry and did not vary among habitats. Natural physiochemical gradients, geochemical processes, and possibly anthropogenic inputs influenced the trace elemental signatures of Albemarle Sound habitats. The unique chemical signals of the sound's river habitats validate the use of otolith signatures for determining striped bass habitat utilization in this system. Use of otolith elemental signatures as natural tags provides a quantitative method to determine the proportion of juvenile striped bass recruiting to the adult spawning stock from specific habitats, thus aiding resource managers in identifying habitats that should receive priority in restoration and conservation decisions.Received June 11, 2010; accepted September 12, 2011
Highlights
Accurate assessment of the ecological role of juvenile fish habitats is essential for identifying vital nursery areas to be protected and conserved
The small-scale temporal and spatial variation that occurs in water chemistry because of natural gradients and human inputs typically is not quantified in otolith element studies and can confound interpretation of chemical signals (Elsdon and Gillanders 2006)
Salinity was consistently lowest in BATC, and the mean salinity ranking for the other habitats was PERO, PASQ, and ALLG
Summary
Accurate assessment of the ecological role of juvenile fish habitats is essential for identifying vital nursery areas to be protected and conserved. Fodrie and Herzka (2008) held wild juvenile California halibut Paralichthys californicus in cages within southern California embayments and compared their otolith signatures with those of wild-caught fish They found no difference in otolith signatures between the caged and wild-caught fish from the Punta Banda habitat, and significant spatial variation in the otolith signatures suggested development of habitat-specific chemical tags. Field caging studies have provided evidence that otolith chemistry reflects the ambient water, but the exact relationships differ among species and elements (Kraus and Secor 2004; Forrester 2005; Fodrie and Herzka 2008). Dissolved concentrations of trace elements in water were measured to investigate the relationship between otolith chemistry and ambient water chemistry
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