Determining the natal origin of beach versus demersally reared larval capelin, Mallotus villosus, off the northeast Newfoundland coast using otolith chemical signatures
Date
2016
Authors
Loeppky, Alison
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Abstract
Identifying the natal origin of fish is important to understand connectivity among populations. Capelin, Mallotus villosus, is a key forage fish species that spawns at beach and deep-water habitats along the Newfoundland coast. I investigated the ability to identify the natal habitat of larval capelin using otolith chemical signatures quantified via LA ICP-MS. Otolith signatures of larvae reared under identical conditions were highly variable and classification into treatments was low (~50%). To investigate whether maternal investment was responsible for this variability, artificially fertilized eggs were reared under controlled treatments. Otolith signatures reliably classified individuals into families with high success (83.4%), suggesting maternal investment may confound our ability to identify natal origin. Eggs incubated in water enriched with 137Ba revealed trace elements from the environment are being incorporated into developing otoliths. These findings suggest moderate-high differences in water chemistry and environmental conditions are required to identify the natal origin of capelin.
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Keywords
Otolith, Natal Origin, Capelin, Trace element, Chemical signature