Quantifying physiological influences on otolith microchemistry
By A. Sturrock, E. Hunter, J. Milton, Rachel C. Johnson, C. Waring, C. Trueman. 2015
202 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Trace element concentrations in fish earstones (‘otoliths’) are widely used to discriminate spatially discrete populations or individuals of marine fish, based on a commonly held assumption that physiological influences on otolith composition are minor, and thus variations in otolith elemental chemistry primarily reflect changes in ambient water chemistry. We carried out a long‐term (1‐year) experiment, serially sampling seawater, blood plasma and otoliths of mature and immature European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) to test relationships between otolith chemistry and environmental and physiological variables. Seasonal variations in otolith elemental composition did not track seawater concentrations, but instead reflected physiological controls on metal transport and biokinetics, which are likely moderated by ambient temperature. The influence of physiological factors on otolith composition was particularly evident in Sr/Ca ratios, the most widely used elemental marker in applied otolith microchemistry studies. Reproduction also triggered specific variations in otolith and blood plasma metal chemistry, especially Zn/Ca ratios in female fish, which could potentially serve as retrospective spawning indicators. The influence of physiology on the trace metal composition of otoliths may explain the success of microchemical stock discrimination in relatively homogenous marine environments, but could complicate alternative uses for trace element compositions in biominerals of higher organisms.
Subfields: Aquatic Science, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8015bb9a1a4a02e9bcf85b853e936645330f216c
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In Global and Planetary Change
In Nature and Landscape Conservation
Citations in the corpus
- Otolith Biochemistry—A Review (2019, background): “…of calcium substitution or random trapping of free ions may reflect changes in an individual’s physicochemical environment, it has been suggested that some trace element interactions with the organic matrix are more likely to be indicative of physiological events (Sturrock et al., 2014, 2015).”