New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Potential use of oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of otoliths to identify migratory and non-migratory stocks of the New Zealand common smelt: a pilot study
CAMPBELL S. NELSON
School of Science
University of Waikato
Private Bag, Hamilton, New Zealand
THOMAS G. NORTHCOTE
Resource Ecology University of British Columbia Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1W5 Canada
CHRIS H. HENDY
School of Science
University of Waikato
Private Bag, Hamilton, New Zealand
Abstract Preliminary oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses were made on otoliths of the common smelt
Retropinna retropinna (Richardson) and compared with the isotopic composition of their habitat waters in Lake Taupo and 5 lower Waikato lakes. The results, though limited in sample size, suggest that the calcium carbonate forming the otoliths may be precipitated close to isotopic equilibrium with the waters in which the fish live. Furthermore, because the isotopic composition of waters in each of the estuarine, river, and lowland and upland lake environments appears to lie within a specific range, the potential exists for using
18O and
13C abundance in the otoliths to reveal interpopulation variations resulting from differences in migratory behaviour of the smelt between these diverse habitats.
Keywords oxygen isotopes; carbon isotopes; otoliths; smelt; Retropinna; Waikato River; Waikato lakes; Lake Taupo; fish; migrations; lake water; climate
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1989, Vol. 23: 337-344 0028-8330/2303-O337$2.50/0 © Crown copyright 1989 Received 9 August 1988; accepted 14 November 1988
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (647K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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