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Otolith oxygen and carbon stable isotopes in wild and laboratory-reared plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)

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Abstract

The relationship between water temperature, growth rate, and otolith isotopic ratios was measured for juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) reared at two temperatures (11 and 17°C) and two feeding regimes (1 and 3 prey items·ml−1). The otolith isotope ratios in individual fish ranged from −2 to −4 for carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) and from 0.2 to 1.9 for oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O). The otolith oxygen isotope ratios were significantly affected by water temperature, but not by feeding level, and there were no significant synergistic effects. The fractionation of oxygen isotopes during otolith growth was independent of individual growth rate. Carbon isotope ratios were not significantly affected by food ration or water temperature, but were related to fish growth rate. The carbon isotope ratios were negatively correlated with fish length in the colder water treatments, and tended to increase with fish length in the warm water treatments. The laboratory-determined relationship between otolith oxygen isotope ratio and water temperature was applied to individuals of five species (plaice, cod, whiting, haddock, gurnard) collected in a single trawl sample. The otolith derived temperatures often overestimated measured water temperatures. The difference between real and estimated water temperatures varied between species, and the closest fit was for field-caught plaice.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks S Crowley and J Marshall (University of Liverpool) for their cooperation and advice throughout the study. D Hornby assisted in the laboratory rearing. Otolith and water samples were analysed by SF Crowley in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Liverpool. This study was performed at the Port Erin Marine Laboratory, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Chief Scientists Group and the University of Liverpool Research Development Fund.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, PO Box 7803, Bergen, 5020, Norway

    Audrey J. Geffen

  2. Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 1870, Nordnes, 5817, Bergen, Norway

    Audrey J. Geffen

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  1. Audrey J. Geffen
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Correspondence to Audrey J. Geffen.

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Geffen, A.J. Otolith oxygen and carbon stable isotopes in wild and laboratory-reared plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). Environ Biol Fish 95, 419–430 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-012-0033-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-012-0033-2

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