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Salinity and Temperature Effects on Element Incorporation of Gulf Killifish Fundulus grandis Otoliths

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Abstract

Many applications of otolith chemistry use the ratios of strontium (Sr) and barium (Ba) to calcium (Ca) as indicators of salinity exposure, because typically, as salinity increases, Sr concentration increases and Ba concentration decreases. However, these relationships are nonlinear, can be confounded by temperature, and investigations of salinity and temperature effects on otolith chemistry produce varied results. To determine the relationships of temperature and salinity on Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca in otoliths, we used free ranging Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. This species is ideal because it is euryhaline and exhibits limited movements. Otolith edge Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca ratios were related to the previous 30-day mean salinity and temperature experienced by fish. The best model to describe otolith Sr:Ca was one that included a positive asymptotic relationship for both salinity and temperature. However, the salinity asymptotic maximum was reached at 10 psu and changes in otolith Sr:Ca above 10 psu were indicative of temperature changes. Otolith Ba:Ca exhibited an exponential decreasing relationship with salinity, and an exponential increasing relationship with temperature, and these two models combined best explained otolith Ba:Ca. Above 10 psu, the modeled Ba:Ca ratio continued to decrease demonstrating that this ratio may be indicative of salinity changes beyond this value. Therefore, using both Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca could be beneficial in reconstructing fish environmental histories. Temperature effects on otolith element ratios could confound past salinity reconstructions as well and must be a result of endogenous processes, given that no relationship between temperature and water chemistry existed.

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Acknowledgements

This project would not have been possible without field help and we would like to thank Adrian Stanfill and all other Ireland Center staff and students who helped collect samples, as well as Dr. Ash Bullard for help with sample site selection and protocol. Special thanks to Tammy DeVries for pulling miniscule otoliths and dealing with strong H2O2 for cleaning purposes. Two reviewers greatly improved the manuscript and we thank them for their comments.Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Joel E. Gagnon and Dr. Mohamed Shaheen of the University of Windsor GLIER for the help with the LA-ICP-MS.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by British Petroleum. This manuscript was supported by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Hatch program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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  1. School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences, Auburn University, 203 Swingle Hall, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    T. Reid Nelson, Dennis R. DeVries & Russell A. Wright

  2. Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA

    T. Reid Nelson

  3. Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory, 101 Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL, 36528, USA

    T. Reid Nelson

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  1. T. Reid Nelson
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Communicated by Mark S. Peterson

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Nelson, T.R., DeVries, D.R. & Wright, R.A. Salinity and Temperature Effects on Element Incorporation of Gulf Killifish Fundulus grandis Otoliths. Estuaries and Coasts 41, 1164–1177 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0341-z

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