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Comments on Lowe et al. “Otolith Microchemistry Reveals Substantial Use of Freshwater by Southern Flounder in the Northern Gulf of Mexico”

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Abstract

Lowe et al. (Estuaries and Coasts, 34:630–639, 2011) hypothesized that juvenile southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma (Jordan and Gilbert 1884) would migrate from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta (AL, USA) and use low-salinity (oligohaline/freshwater) habitats during, at least, a portion of their first year of life. Thus, they analyzed the Sr/Ca ratio profiles along the sagittal otoliths of southern flounder collected in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta and observed that one third of the flounders had low Sr/Ca levels in the otoliths’ core and throughout the otolith, suggesting that these fishes hatched in freshwater or low-salinity habitats where they spend the majority of their life. The other two thirds of southern flounder showed high levels of Sr/Ca ratio in the otoliths’ core following a marked decline of Sr/Ca ratio, which then maintained along the remainder of the otolith. This pattern was interpreted as larvae hatched in higher salinity waters before entering the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta; however, in this paper, I list several arguments to support an alternative interpretation for this pattern. I suggest that the high levels of Sr/Ca ratios in the otoliths’ core of southern flounder does not reflect the saline conditions where larvae hatched, instead it reflects the location where the female progenitor hydrated the eggs. Thus, adding my interpretation on the data of Lowe et al. (Estuaries and Coasts, 34:630–639, 2011), it seems that southern flounder might hatch in or near freshwater habitats and the migration of southern flounder into an estuarine ecosystem to spawn might exist.

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Acknowledgments

Pedro Morais has a postdoc fellowship financed by “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (SFRH/BPD/40832/2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIMAR/CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Morais

  2. ICCE—International Center for Coastal Ecohydrology, Solar do Capitão-Mor, Horta das Figuras, EN 125, 8005-518, Faro, Portugal

    Pedro Morais

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Correspondence to Pedro Morais.

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Morais, P. Comments on Lowe et al. “Otolith Microchemistry Reveals Substantial Use of Freshwater by Southern Flounder in the Northern Gulf of Mexico”. Estuaries and Coasts 35, 904–906 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9469-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9469-4

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