Destructive and non-destructive microanalysis of biocarbonates applied to anomalous otoliths of archaeological and modern sciaenids (Teleostei) from Peru and Chile.
Anomalous otoliths were discovered among modern and archaeological (8th millennium BP) sciaenids. The two species concerned, Cilus gilberti and Sciaena deliciosa, are common on the Peruvian-Chilean coast and do not seem to be affected by this morphological anomaly that maintained in their populations for thousands of years. The carbonates of the anomalous forms, determined by X-ray diffraction, are different from that of the normal otoliths, i.e. calcite and vaterite instead of aragonite. A method of non-destructive analysis by cathodoluminescence is tested and assumptions on the origin of the anomaly and its possible implications on environmental studies are advanced.
Béarez
Philippe
P
Archéozoologie, histoire des sociétés humaines et des peuplements animaux, CNRS UMR 5197/USM 0303, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 55, rue Buffon, 75231 Paris, France. bearez@mnhn.fr
Carlier
Gabriel
G
Lorand
Jean-Pierre
JP
Parodi
Gian-Carlo
GC
D000818:Animals; D002254:Carbonates / Q000032:analysis*; D002677:Chile; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010037:Otolithic Membrane / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000737:chemistry*; D010568:Peru
D002254:Carbonates