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Population structure of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) as determined by otolith chemistry

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Abstract

To examine current genetic-based paradigms pertaining to the structure and possible philopatry of red drum populations, we used solution-based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to analyze the otolith chemistry of juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) from eight different estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and the North Atlantic Ocean. One estuary (Tampa Bay, Fla.) was sampled in three different years. Analyses of variance for five elemental ratios (Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Zn/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) were all significantly different between estuaries, as was a multi-element signature (MANOVA, Pillai’s trace F 50, 1020=19.41, P<0.0001). We also found that red drum from the Gulf could be distinguished from those taken from the Atlantic Ocean with 99.5% accuracy, likely due to differences in water chemistry between these water masses. A discriminant function developed using these elemental ratios was more than 80% accurate in assigning juvenile red drum to their natal estuary, or in the case of Tampa Bay, to the correct year of spawning. We also used laser ablation ICP-MS to examine the otolith core chemistry of adult red drum collected from spawning aggregations near Tampa Bay. Using a discriminant function analysis with a calibration data set derived from juvenile signatures, we found that 75% of the adult cores matched the juvenile signal established for Tampa Bay 1982. Although preliminary, the results presented here suggest that red drum may return to their natal estuary to spawn, which has been postulated from genetic data.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Baker, C. Wenner, S. Woodward, L. Stanley, G. Poulakis, and the FMRI fisheries-independent monitoring staff of the Indian River, Cedar Key, and St. Petersburg laboratories for providing juvenile red drum otoliths. R. Crabtree, M. Murphy, R. Taylor, D. Merryman, D. Harshany, C. Stevens, K. Williams, F. Stengard, E. Robillard, G. Gerdeman, and P. Hood provided assistance collecting or processing adult red drum. J. Schijf and T. Price generously allowed us access to clean rooms and provided technical advice. The comments of J. Gold, M. McCormick, M. Murphy, and several anonymous reviewers improved the manuscript. Collection of otoliths from adult red drum was funded by grant award NA57FF0296 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. Additional support was provided under funding from the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid for Sportfish Restoration, Project Number F-59. This study complies with the laws of the United States of America.

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  1. H. M. Patterson

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, 3010, VIC, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Marine Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 Eighth Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5095, USA

    H. M. Patterson & R. S. McBride

  2. Florida Division, Midwest Research Institute, 1470 Treeland Boulevard SE, Palm Bay, FL 32909, USA

    N. Julien

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  1. H. M. Patterson
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  2. R. S. McBride
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Correspondence to H. M. Patterson.

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Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin

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Patterson, H.M., McBride, R.S. & Julien, N. Population structure of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) as determined by otolith chemistry. Marine Biology 144, 855–862 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1254-x

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