Elemental analysis of vertebrae discerns diadromous movements of threatened non-marine elasmobranchs

Michael I Grant^{1

2}, Peter M Kyne³, Julie James⁴, Yi Hu⁵, Sushmita Mukherji⁶, Yolarnie Amepou², Leontine Baje⁷, Andrew Chin¹, Grant Johnson⁸, Tegan Lee⁹, Brandon Mahan¹⁰, Christopher Wurster⁴, William T White^{11

12}, Colin A Simpfendorfer¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
² Piku Biodiversity Network, National Research Institute, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
³ Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁴ ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Advanced Analytical Centre, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
⁷ National Oceanic Resource Management Authority, Palikir, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia.
⁸ Fisheries Division, Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Berrimah, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁹ Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁰ IsoTropics Geochemistry Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
¹¹ CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
¹² Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

PMID: 37632330
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15537

Elemental analysis of vertebrae discerns diadromous movements of threatened non-marine elasmobranchs

Michael I Grant et al. J Fish Biol. 2023 Dec.

. 2023 Dec;103(6):1357-1373.

doi: 10.1111/jfb.15537. Epub 2023 Sep 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
² Piku Biodiversity Network, National Research Institute, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
³ Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁴ ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Advanced Analytical Centre, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
⁷ National Oceanic Resource Management Authority, Palikir, Pohnpei State, Federated States of Micronesia.
⁸ Fisheries Division, Northern Territory Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Berrimah, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁹ Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁰ IsoTropics Geochemistry Laboratory, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
¹¹ CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
¹² Australian National Fish Collection, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

PMID: 37632330
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15537

Abstract

River sharks (Glyphis spp.) and some sawfishes (Pristidae) inhabit riverine environments, although their long-term habitat use patterns are poorly known. We investigated the diadromous movements of the northern river shark (Glyphis garricki), speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis), narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata), and largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) using in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on vertebrae to recover elemental ratios over each individual's lifetime. We also measured elemental ratios for the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) and a range of inshore and offshore stenohaline marine species to assist in interpretation of results. Barium (Ba) was found to be an effective indicator of freshwater use, whereas lithium (Li) and strontium (Sr) were effective indicators of marine water use. The relationships between Ba and Li and Ba and Sr were negatively correlated, whereas the relationship between Li and Sr was positively correlated. Both river shark species had elemental signatures indicative of prolonged use of upper-estuarine environments, whereas adults appear to mainly use lower-estuarine environments rather than marine environments. Decreases in Li:Ba and Sr:Ba at the end of the prenatal growth zone of P. pristis samples indicated that parturition likely occurs in fresh water. There was limited evidence of prolonged riverine habitat use for A. cuspidata. The results of this study support elemental-environment relationships observed in teleost otoliths and indicate that in situ LA-ICP-MS elemental characterization is applicable to a wide range of elasmobranch species as a discriminator for use and movement across salinity gradients. A greater understanding of processes that lead to element incorporation in vertebrae, and relative concentrations in vertebrae with respect to the ambient environment, will improve the applicability of elemental analysis to understand movements across the life history of elasmobranchs into the future.

Keywords: habitat use; laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; life history; microchemical analysis; river sharks; sawfish.

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References

REFERENCES

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Elemental analysis of vertebrae discerns diadromous movements of threatened non-marine elasmobranchs

Affiliations

Elemental analysis of vertebrae discerns diadromous movements of threatened non-marine elasmobranchs

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

REFERENCES

MeSH terms

Substances

Supplementary concepts

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous