Comparison of White Sucker Age Estimates from Scales, Pectoral Fin Rays, and Otoliths

Sylvester, Ryan M.; Berry, Charles R.

doi:10.1577/m04-147.1

Cited by 58 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…For example, although scales were historically used to age the white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), Beamish and Harvey (1969), after verifying yearly deposition of annuli, found that pectoralfin rays yielded older ages than did scales of individuals older than age 5. Later studies on white suckers found that fin rays yielded biased ages in the oldest individuals and that the otolith was the most appropriate structure (Thompson and Beckman, 1995;Sylvester and Berry, 2006). These examples show the importance of evaluating each structure for age determination.…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparison of 4 aging structures in the American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

Elzey¹,

Rogers²,

Trull³

2014

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Abstract-Multiple structures can be used for the age determination of fishes. Choosing the structure that provides the most precise ages is important for the provision of consistent data for the management of commercially and recreationally important species, such as the American shad (Alosa sapidissima). In this study, we compared the precision of age estimates obtained from sagittal otoliths, vertebrae, scales, and opercula as structures for the age determination of American shad. Two readers examined structures removed from 462 American shad, which were collected from the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts, during May and June of 2008-2010. The precision of age estimates were evaluated by comparisons of ages from different readers and structures. Age estimates determined from otoliths were the most precise (76.2% agreement, 2.99% coefficient of variation). Ages derived from scales were overestimated in young (≤5 years) fish and underestimated in older (≥7 years) fish, compared with ages determined from otoliths. Age estimates determined from vertebrae agreed with those obtained from otoliths better than ages from any other structure tested, but they were less precise and vertebrae required more processing than otoliths. Opercula were difficult to read, resulting in underestimation of the ages of fish that were age 5 and older. The results of this study indicate that the sagittal otolith is the most appropriate structure for determining the age of American shad.

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confidence: 99%

Comparison of 4 aging structures in the American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

Elzey¹,

Rogers²,

Trull³

2014

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“…Otoliths were reported to be inferior to scales and vertebrae for age estimation in Leuciscus cephalus orientalis (Ozdemir and Sen 1986). Sylvester and Berry (2006) reported that otoliths were more accurate than scales and pectoral fin rays for age estimation in white sucker (Catostomus commersonii). Isermann et al (2003), while comparing the scales, sagittal otoliths, and dorsal spines, reported that otoliths provided the most timeefficient and precise approach for age estimation in walleye (Sander vitreum).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparison of age estimates between structures is an alterative technique to validation that may provide useful information on the accuracy and bias of ageestimating structures (Sylvester and Berry 2006). Several studies have focused on comparing ages enumerated from different bony structures in an attempt to quantify the precision and to identify possible bias associated with each structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precision of aging structures for Indian major carp,Cirrhinus mrigala, from the River Ganga

Khan

Miyan

2011

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Scales, opercular bones, otoliths, vertebrae, and dorsal fin rays were compared to ascertain the best aging structure of Cirrhinus mrigala. All structures showed alternating opaque and translucent bands that were interpreted as annuli; however, structures differed greatly in the clarity of their presumed annual marks. Age estimates were compared by calculating the percentage of agreement (PA), average percentage of error (APE), and coefficient of variation (CV) and by constructing age bias plots. Age estimates were evaluated between readers and between the pairs of aging structures. Among all structures, scales showed the clearest annual rings and had highest (94.6%) PA between readers, followed by opercular bones (88.6%), otoliths (83.9%), vertebrae (79.9%), and dorsal fin rays (62.4%). Due to highest PA and lower minimal aging error, the scales were considered the most reliable bony structure for aging C. mrigala. When scale ages were compared with those of the other structures, the highest PA and lowest APE and CV values were found between scale and opercular bone estimates. Mean values of age estimate from scales were comparable ( p40.05) to the values obtained from opercular bones, otoliths, and vertebrae and were significantly ( p50.05) different with the dorsal fin ray age estimates. Scales were the most suitable structures for age estimation in C. mrigala.

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“…The most reliable method for estimating the age of white suckers is to use thin-sectioned otoliths [39]. Thus, we prepared thin sections for each of the otoliths and followed the procedures described by Edwards et al [40] to assign an age to each of the white suckers.…”

Section: Pcb Hg Methylmercury and Age Determinationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ratio of Mercury Concentration to PCB Concentration Varies with Sex of White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii)

et al. 2018

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Abstract:The whole-fish total mercury (Hg) concentrations were determined in 25 mature female and 26 mature male white suckers (Catostomus commersonii) caught during their spawning run in the Kewaunee River, a tributary to Lake Michigan. The age of each fish was estimated using thin-sectioned otoliths, and total length (TL) and weight were determined for each fish. When adjusted for the effect of age, males were found to be 7% higher in Hg concentration than females. Nearly all (about 98%) of the Hg found in the white suckers was determined to be methylmercury. In an earlier study on the same 51 white suckers from the Kewaunee River spawning run, males were found to be 18% higher than females in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration. We determined that the ratio of Hg concentration to PCB concentration in females was significantly higher than that in males. Thus, sex significantly interacted with contaminant type (Hg or PCBs) in determining contaminant concentrations. The most plausible explanation for this interaction was that males eliminated Hg at a faster rate than females, most likely due to the boosting of the Hg-elimination rate by certain androgens such as testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone. Hg concentrations in the white suckers were well below federal guidelines for fish consumption.

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Comparison of White Sucker Age Estimates from Scales, Pectoral Fin Rays, and Otoliths

Cited by 58 publications

References 24 publications

Comparison of 4 aging structures in the American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

Comparison of 4 aging structures in the American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

Precision of aging structures for Indian major carp,Cirrhinus mrigala, from the River Ganga

Ratio of Mercury Concentration to PCB Concentration Varies with Sex of White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii)

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