Otolith elemental fingerprinting and scale and otolith morphometry in Prochilodus lineatus provide identification of natal nurseries

DOMANICO, A; AVIGLIANO, E.; VOLPEDO, A.V; AVIGLIANO, E.; VOLPEDO, A.V; SÁNCHEZ,S; SÁNCHEZ,S; DOMANICO, A

FISHERIES RESEARCH

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 186 p. 1 - 10

0165-7836

Identification of nursery areas is a basicrequirement for fishing management in large rivers. Morphometry(circularity, ellipticity, form factor, rectangularity and roundness indices) and chemistry (Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca and Zn:Ca ratios)of lapilli otolith, and geometric morphometry of scales ofjuveniles Prochilodus lineatus, in three sites in the Plata basin, werecompared in order to evaluate the applicability toidentify possible nursery areas. Otolithmicrochemistry based on ICP-OES found significant differences in theconcentrations of barium and zinc among sample sites. Otolith microchemistryappears to be a good effective tool in identifying individual fish fromdifferent locations (67.9%-84.2% respectively). Otolith morphometry foundsignificant differences in the ellipticity, circularity and form factor indicesbetween sites. Otolith morphological indices supported resultsfrom the elemental study with allocation success of 63.2-82.8%. Considering all scale geometricmorphometry variables, discriminant analysis showed a good percentage ofclassification of individuals (58.3-78.9%). These results indicate thatthe otolith microchemisty and morphometry (circularity and rectangularityindices) and scale morphometry are good markers of habitatand represent a potential tool for identification of streaked prochilod nursery areas.