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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 56(5)

Relationship between elemental concentration and age from otoliths of adult snapper (Pagrus auratus, Sparidae): implications for movement and stock structure

A. J. Fowler A C , B. M. Gillanders B and K. C. Hall A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A South Australian Research and Development Institute, PO Box 120, Henley Beach, SA 5022, Australia.

B Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, Darling Building DP418, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: fowler.anthony@saugov.sa.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 56(5) 661-676 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF04157
Submitted: 13 July 2004  Accepted: 9 March 2005   Published: 24 July 2005

Abstract

The present study investigated the stock structure of snapper (Pagrus auratus) in South Australia, and the extent to which this is influenced by adult movement. Fish from the 9+ age class were sampled from six different regions, encompassing >2000 km of coastline and different habitat types. The chemistry of transverse sections of otoliths was sampled using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, providing elemental profiles that were related to age for the first nine years of the fish’s lives. The age-related annual averages for both 88Sr and 138Ba differed significantly between regions. They were, however, similar for the first three years, then diverged considerably between the ages of three to five years, and then remained consistently different through to the age of nine years. This suggests that all fish, regardless of where captured, originated from only one or two nursery areas, but dispersed throughout the different regions between the ages of three to five years, before becoming resident to their new regions of occupancy. Thus, this population of snapper represents a single, large, stock where the individuals have a common origin, but through age-related emigration ultimately disperse and supplement the low abundance populations in regional State waters.

Extra keywords: barium, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, strontium.


Acknowledgments

Several people provided assistance at various stages through the project, to whom we gratefully extend our thanks. Paul Jennings and Bruce Jackson assisted with the early morning starts to help collect the snapper otoliths. Bruce Jackson also maintained the database and otolith collection from which the appropriate otoliths were selected. Paul Jennings prepared the TS sections that were sampled in the analyses. Travis Elsdon and John Tsiros both provided advice on the laboratory procedures associated with the chemical analyses. The work was funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (Project no. 2002/001), and logistic support was provided by both the South Australian Research and Development Institute and the University of Adelaide. BMG was supported by an ARC QEII Research Fellowship.


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