Lack of Equivalence in the Elemental and Stable Isotope Chemistry Within the Sagittal Otolith Pair of the Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus

Authors

Antranik Kajajian, Old Dominion University
Jason J. Schaffler, Old Dominion University
Cynthia M. Jones, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0002-4684-1003 (Jones)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

DOI

10.1093/icesjms/fst145

Publication Title

ICES Journal of Marine Science

Volume

71

Issue

2

Pages

356-364

Abstract

In fish that are not bilaterally symmetrical, the left and right sagittae are often not symmetrical, exhibiting divergent growth patterns and mass, and may have differences in chemical composition. We investigated this in the asymmetrical summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, collected from different nursery habitats along the US east coast. Significant differences were detected in otolith mass, δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Li:Ca, Mg:Ca, and Sr:Ca, and overall chemical signatures. These results refute the hypothesis of left-right equivalence that is prevalent for bilaterally symmetrical fishes. We tested whether a specific side was better suited for classification. The best models differed between sagittae and resulted in different classification accuracies. The left otolith produced better classification accuracies. Simulated samples of randomized sets of left or right otoliths produced mean accuracies intermediate to classification and were often highly variable. We recommend that future otolith chemistry studies involving bilaterally asymmetrical species test the hypothesis of equivalence within the sagittae before randomly choosing an otolith for chemical analyses.

Rights

Web of Science: "Free full-text from publisher."

Original Publication Citation

Kajajian, A., Schaffler, J. J., & Jones, C. M. (2014). Lack of equivalence in the elemental and stable isotope chemistry within the sagittal otolith pair of the summer flounder, paralichthys dentatus. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71(2), 356-364. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fst145

Repository Citation

Kajajian, Antranik; Schaffler, Jason J.; and Jones, Cynthia M., "Lack of Equivalence in the Elemental and Stable Isotope Chemistry Within the Sagittal Otolith Pair of the Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus" (2014). OES Faculty Publications. 287.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_fac_pubs/287