ISSN:
1095-8649
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
The 18O/16O and 13C/12C ratios in the otolith carbonate of pink snapper Pagrus auratus and tailor (bluefish) Pomatomus saltatrix, from several locations along the Western Australian coast, indicated that pink snapper stocks are location specific but that tailor stocks are less so. The hypersaline Shark Bay, on the coast of Western Australia, generated strongly characteristic isotopic signatures which serve as natural tags. Otolith carbonate from pink snapper from normal oceanic waters just north of Shark Bay showed no evidence that the fish had been in hypersaline water. Similarly, pink snapper from the hypersaline bay showed no evidence of having spent time at normal oceanic salinity. By contrast, some tailor from oceanic waters showed evidence of having spent considerable time in the bay, and some fish from the bay had oceanic signatures. This suggested that tailor were more migratory than snapper. The similarity in the distribution of the isotopic signatures (from oceanic to hypersaline) in otolith carbonate from tailor from oceanic waters north of Shark Bay (Koks Island), and from those within Shark Bay, indicated a single stock in this region (in contrast to pink snapper). Moreover, tailor from coastal south-western Australia and from the Shark Bay area could be considered seperately for some management purposes. For pink snapper stocks from oceanic waters, oxygen isotope signatures were clearly related to water temperature although the temperature relationship was obscured for fish within Shark Bay because of the strength of the signal generated by the hypersaline water. For tailor the temperature relationship was not obvious, probably because migrations of tailor smeared the temperature effect, and the hypersaline Shark Bay waters dominated, and, possibly, at the southern extemity of the range, the freshwater in some estuaries influenced the isotopic signatures of the otolith carbonate. Strontium/calcium ratios in pink snapper otoliths also indicated a separation of stocks, but for tailor overlap of signatures again suggested migratory behaviour.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1999.tb00676.x
