Otolith radiocarbon signatures provide distinct migration history of walleye pollock around Hokkaido, Japan in the North‐Western Pacific

Abstract Trace elements and stable isotope ratios in otoliths have been used as proxies for the migration history of teleosts; however, their application in oceanic fishes remains limited. This study reports the first use of radiocarbons in otoliths to evaluate the horizontal migration histories of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and Evolution
Main Authors: Kozue Ando, Yusuke Yokoyama, Yosuke Miyairi, Osamu Sakai, Tomonori Hamatsu, Yuuho Yamashita, Masayuki Chimura, Toshi Nagata
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11288
https://doaj.org/article/b10acd266c28437bb1530952de7f0867
Description
Summary:Abstract Trace elements and stable isotope ratios in otoliths have been used as proxies for the migration history of teleosts; however, their application in oceanic fishes remains limited. This study reports the first use of radiocarbons in otoliths to evaluate the horizontal migration histories of an oceanic fish species, the walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus. We conducted radiocarbon analyses of three stocks sourced from Hokkaido, Japan. The radiocarbon concentrations from the outermost portion of the otoliths from the Japanese Pacific, Northern Japan Sea (JS), and Southern Okhotsk Sea (OS) stocks were in general agreement with the seawater radiocarbon concentration of the sampling region, suggesting that pollock of all three stocks generally inhabited the within the sea region where each pollocks were sampled throughout their life cycle. However, the radiocarbon signals also provided some indications that some JS and OS stocks may be migrating between different sea regions. The proposed novel approach of reconstructing the individual migration history of marine fish using radiocarbon in otoliths may help examine fish migration with a higher temporal and spatial resolution that could not be achieved by trace elements and stable isotope ratios.