Otolith microchemistry as a stock identification tool for freshwater fishes: testing its limits in Lake Erie

Abstract

We evaluated otolith chemistry as a tool for identifying natal origins of potamodromous fishes using historical Lake Erie water chemistry (1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) otolith elemental composition (1994)(1995)(1996) data. Lake Erie's tributaries had stream-specific chemical signatures that were temporally stable. Correspondingly, the otolith microelemental composition of larvae collected from tributary embayments (Sandusky and Maumee bays) was shown to be geographically distinct and the use of known-origin juveniles showed that larval otolith microelemental signatures could be used to accurately identify natal origins and indicate fish movement. Discrimination between offshore spawning locations was relatively difficult, however, indicating limitations to working in systems that are dominated by flow from a single large river (i.e., Detroit River). Interannual variability in otolith microelemental signatures was high such that larvae from one year could not reliably classify natal location of larvae in another year. Development of an annual library of site-specific signatures and exploration of complementary ways to discriminate natal origins would improve the use of otolith microchemistry as a fishery management tool in freshwater systems.Résumé : Nous évaluons la chimie des otolithes comme outil d'identification des origines à la naissance des poissons potamodromes en utilisant des données de la chimie de l'eau du lac É rié du passé (1983-2001) et de la composition en élé-ments des otolithes (1994)(1995)(1996) de perchaudes (Perca flavescens). Les tributaires du lac É rié possédaient des signatures chimiques spécifiques à chacun qui étaient stables dans le temps. De même, les compositions des otolithes en microélé-ments des larves récoltées dans les baies associées aux tributaires (baies Sandusky et Maumee) étaient géographiquement distinctes; l'utilisation de jeunes d'origine connue a montré que les signatures en microéléments des otolithes des larves pouvaient servir à identifier avec précision les origines à la naissance et décrire les déplacements des poissons. Cependant, la discrimination entre les différents sites de fraie au large était relativement difficile, ce qui indique les limites qu'il y a à travailler dans des systèmes qui sont dominés par le débit d'une seule grande rivière (c'est-à-dire la rivière Détroit). La variabilité interannuelle dans les signatures des otolithes en microéléments était élevée si bien que les larves d'une année ne pouvaient servir à classifier de manière fiable les sites de naissance des larves d'une autre année. La mise au point de ré-pertoires annuels de signatures spécifiques au site et l'exploration de méthodes complémentaires pour distinguer les points d'origine à la naissance pourraient améliorer l'utilisation de la microchimie des otolithes comme outil de gestion des pê-ches dans les systèmes d'eau douce.[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Matching Watershed and Otolith Chemistry to Establish Natal Origin of an Endangered Desert Lake Sucker

“…Trace elements are incorporated into the crystalline matrix in proportion to their abundance in the ambient water (Elsdon et al 2008;Pangle et al 2010).…”

“…2006). For an element to be included in the analysis, it had to be above the limit of detection (LOD), and it had to be measured precisely (Pangle et al 2010). To meet the LOD, the element had to be greater than three standard deviations of the average background levels for that element.…”

Otolith elemental and Sr isotopic composition as a natal tag for Biwa salmon Oncorhynchus masou subsp. in Lake Biwa, Japan

“…Combined analysis of elemental composition and Sr isotopic ratio could successfully associate individual fish with each sampling location with a high level of accuracy (mean 89%). High variability in otolith chemistry based on geographical differences in habitat location has been reported for several freshwater fish species (Gibson-Reinemer et al 2009, Pangle et al 2010, Zeigler & Whitledge 2011. If otolith chemistry can determine the natal or nursery area of an individual fish, it could also reveal the early dispersal patterns of fish in later stages of life.…”

Do models parameterized with observations from the system predict larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) growth performance better in Lake Erie?

“…Western Lake Erie is a shallow body of water (average 7.4 m in depth) that exhibits high primary and secondary production (mesotrophic to eutrophic, Ludsin et al 2001;Fahnenstiel et al 2010;Allinger and Reavie 2013). Unlike most large lakes, the waters of the western basin of Lake Erie do not vertically stratify during the summer due to its shallow nature, but exhibit strong horizontal spatial heterogeneity due to outflows from the Detroit and Maumee rivers (Pangle et al 2010;Reichert et al 2010;Marin Jarrin et al 2015). In the text, we refer to areas receiving waters D r a f t 9 primarily from the Maumee River as the Maumee River plume, while other areas of the west basin are referred to as the non-Maumee River plume.…”