MEPS 349:245-253(2007)  -  doi: 10.3354/meps07064

ABSTRACT: The ability to identify past patterns of salinity habitat use in coastal fishes is viewed as a critical development in evaluating nursery habitats and their role in population dynamics. The utility of otolith tracers (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, and Sr/Ca) as proxies for environmental salinity was tested for the estuarine-dependent juvenile white perch Morone americana. Analysis of water samples revealed a positive relationship between the salinity gradient and δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C, and Sr/Ca values of water in the Patuxent River estuary. Similarly, analysis of otolith material from young-of-the-year white perch (2001, 2004, 2005) revealed a positive relationship between salinity and otolith δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, and Sr/Ca values. In classifying fish to their known salinity habitat, δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca were moderately accurate tracers (53 to 79% and 75% correct classification, respectively), and δ¹³C provided near complete discrimination between habitats (93 to 100% correct classification). Further, δ¹³C exhibited the lowest inter-annual variability and the largest range of response across salinity habitats. Thus, across estuaries, it is expected that resolution and reliability of salinity histories of juvenile white perch will be improved through the application of stable isotopes as tracers of salinity history.

KEY WORDS: Otolith chemistry · Stable isotopes · δ¹³C · δ¹⁸O · Sr/Ca · Salinity · Estuary · Morone americana