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Decoding fingerprints: elemental composition of vertebrae correlates to age-related habitat use in two morphologically similar sharks
- Source :
- Marine Ecology Progress Series. 434:133-142
- Publication Year :
- 2011
- Publisher :
- Inter-Research Science Center, 2011.
-
Abstract
- We compare vertebral microchemistry with previously described age-related movement patterns of bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas and pig-eye sharks C. amboinensis within coastal waters of north Australia. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) quan- tified the chemical signatures of nursery habitats within the vertebrae of juvenile and adult sharks. We examined evidence for adults returning to these habitats by applying LA-ICP-MS along a growth axis of their vertebrae. We transposed chemical signatures with growth increments in adult vertebrae to correlate with age estimates. Unique elemental signatures were identified in each of the fresh - water nurseries, but we did not find them in adult vertebrae. Age-specific changes in vertebral micro- chemistry in mature female bull sharks correlate with periodic returns every 1 to 2 yr to less saline environments to pup. We were unable to discriminate among natal habitats of pig-eye sharks using elemental fingerprints, and age-specific changes in vertebral microchemistry were also absent. We conclude that changes in vertebral microchemistry correlate with known habitat use patterns of the bull and pig-eye sharks, showing the potential of vertebral microchemistry to discern movement patterns in sharks.
Details
- ISSN :
- 16161599 and 01718630
- Volume :
- 434
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Marine Ecology Progress Series
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........e3b6ac5ac5f2fe9d2bd27afce4b8e896