Use of Otolith Strontium:Calcium Ratios for Hindcasting Larval Cod Gadus Morhua Distributions Relative to Water Masses on Georges Bank

The concentration ratios of strontium to calcium in laboratory-reared larval cod otoliths are shown to be related to the water temperature (T) at the time of otolith precipitation. This relationship is curvilinear, and is best described by a simple exponential equation of the form (Sr/Ca x 1000 = a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Ecology Progress Series
Main Authors: Townsend, David, Radtke, R. L., Malone, D. P., Wallinga, J. P.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: DigitalCommons@UMaine 1995
Subjects:
COD
GADUS MORHUA
GEORGES BANK
OTOLITH
SR/CA RATIOS
HYDROGRAPHY
TEMPERATURE HISTORIES
atlantic cod
Gadus morhua
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/sms_facpub/141
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps119037
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/context/sms_facpub/article/1140/viewcontent/Townsend.119.40546.37.pdf
Description
Summary:The concentration ratios of strontium to calcium in laboratory-reared larval cod otoliths are shown to be related to the water temperature (T) at the time of otolith precipitation. This relationship is curvilinear, and is best described by a simple exponential equation of the form (Sr/Ca x 1000 = a exp(-T/b). We show that when Sr/Ca elemental analyses are related to the daily growth increments in the larval otoliths, relative temperature histories of individual field-caught larvae can be reconstructed from the egg stage to the time of capture. We present preliminary examples of how such reconstructed temperature histories of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua larvae, collected on Georges Bank during April and May 1993, may be interpreted in relation to the broad-scale larval distributions and the hydrography of the Bank.

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