title: Relationships between water and paddlefish Polyodon spathula dentary elemental and stable-isotopic signatures: potential application for reconstructing environmental history.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to characterize relationships between water and paddlefish Polyodon spathula dentary Sr:Ca, δ18O and stable hydrogen isotope ratio (δD) to determine the accuracy with which individual P. spathula could be assigned to their collection locations using dentary-edge Sr:Ca, δD and δ18O. A laboratory experiment was also conducted to determine whether dentary Sr:Ca in age 0 year P. spathula would reflect shifts in water Sr:Ca to which fish were exposed. Significant linear relationships between water and dentary Sr:Ca, δD and δ18O were observed, although the relationship between water and dentary δ18O was weaker than those for Sr:Ca and δD. Classification success for individual fish to collection locations that differed in water Sr:Ca, δD and δ18O ranged from 86 to 100% based on dentary-edge Sr:Ca, δD and δ18O. Dentary Sr:Ca increased significantly in laboratory-reared age 0 year P. spathula following 4 weeks of exposure to elevated water Sr:Ca; dentary Sr:Ca of fish held in water with elevated Sr:Ca was also significantly higher than that of control fish reared in ambient laboratory water. Results indicated that P. spathula dentaries reflect water signatures for commonly-applied natural chemical markers and strongly suggest that dentary microchemistry and stable-isotopic compositions will be applicable for reconstructing P. spathula environmental history in locations where sufficient spatial differences in water chemistry occur.
authors.affiliation: Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6511, U.S.A.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.affiliation: Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6511, U.S.A.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Whitledge
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, One Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6036, U.S.A.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pracheil
authors.affiliation: North Dakota Game and Fish Department, 3001 Main Avenue, Bismarck, ND, 58501, U.S.A.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bailey
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes; D007554:Isotopes; D008334:Mandible / Q000737:chemistry*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes
keywords: calcium; hydrogen; microchemistry; oxygen; stable isotopes; strontium