Age validation of four rockfishes (genera Sebastes and Sebastolobus) with bomb-produced radiocarbon
Craig Kastelle
A B , Thomas Helser A , Todd TenBrink A , Charles Hutchinson A , Betty Goetz A , Chris Gburski A and Irina Benson A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: craig.kastelle@noaa.gov
Marine and Freshwater Research 71(10) 1355-1366 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF19280
Submitted: 7 September 2019 Accepted: 3 December 2019 Published: 13 February 2020
Abstract
In rockfish (Family Scorpaenidae), age determination is difficult and the annual nature of otolith growth zones must be validated independently. We applied routine age determination to four species of Gulf of Alaska rockfish: two shallower-water species, namely harlequin rockfish (Sebastes variegatus) and redstripe rockfish (Sebastes proriger), and two deep-water species, namely shortspine thornyhead (Sebastolobus alascanus) and shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis). The estimated ages (counts of presumed annual growth zones in the otoliths) were then evaluated with bomb-produced radiocarbon (14C) and Bayesian modelling with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations. This study successfully demonstrated the level of accuracy in estimated ages of redstripe rockfish (a 35% probability of underageing, and ~5% probability of overageing) and harlequin rockfish (a 100% probability that they were underaged by ~3 or 4 years). Measured Δ14C in shortspine thornyhead and shortraker rockfish otoliths was lower and increased later than expected. Hence, incorrect age determination could not be evaluated. This is likely caused by dissimilar environmental and biological availability of 14C between these two species and the Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) reference chronology, or underageing of these two species.
Additional keywords: age accuracy, age determination, Bayesian modelling, Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations, otolith, Scorpaenidae.
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