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Research article2000Peer reviewed

Complex life histories of fishes revealed through natural information storage devices: case studies of diadromous events as recorded by otoliths

Elfman, Mikael; Limburg, K E; Kristiansson, P.; Svedäng, Henrik; Westin, L.; Wickström, H.; Malmqvist, K.; Pallon, Jan

Abstract

Diadromous fishes - species that move across salinity gradients as part of their life repertoire - form a major part of coastal and inland fisheries. Conventional mark-recapture techniques have long been used to track their movements, but give incomplete information at best. On the other hand, otoliths (ear-stones) of fishes can provide a complete record of major life history events, as reflected both in their microstructure and elemental composition. Strontium, which substitutes for calcium in the aragonite matrix of otoliths, is a powerful tracer of salinity histories in many migratory fishes. We measured Sr and Ca with a nuclear microprobe (PIXE) and show examples (eel, Anguilla anguilla; brown trout, Salmo trutta; American shad, Alosa sapidissima) of how the technique has solved several mysteries within fisheries biology. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

otolith; PIXE; nuclear microprobe

Published in

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
2000, Volume: 161-163, pages: 877-881 Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Accelerator Physics and Instrumentation

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-583X(99)00923-4

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/42032