Age and growth of bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis): a half-century life-span for a keystone browser, with a novel approach to bomb radiocarbon dating in the Hawaiian Islands

Author:

Andrews Allen H.1,DeMartini Edward E.1,Eble Jeff A.2,Taylor Brett M.3,Lou Dong Chun4,Humphreys Robert L.1

Affiliation:

1. NOAA Fisheries – Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Honolulu, HI 96818, USA.

2. University of West Florida, Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, 11000 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL 32514, USA.

3. Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research, School of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.

4. College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.

Abstract

Bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis) from Hawaii were aged to >50 years using cross-sectioned sagittal otoliths. Fish length was a poor indicator of age because of rapid and variable early growth, exemplified by fish aged to be 4 years near maximum length. Growth was deterministic with adult ages decoupled from body length. Otolith mass and thickness were evaluated as proxies for age and both were encouraging; thickness explained more variance but mass was easier to measure. An age estimation protocol was validated through ontogeny using bomb radiocarbon (14C) dating. Use of the postbomb 14C decline period from a regional reference chronology enabled age validation of young fish — a novel approach for the Pacific Ocean. A probabilistic procedure for assigning bomb 14C dates (CALIBomb) was used for the first time to determine fish birth years. The age-reading protocol was generally validated, and it was possible to describe length-at-age despite difficulties in counting otolith annuli beyond 30–40 years. Growth curves differed between the sexes, and a four-parameter generalized von Bertalanffy growth function provided the best fit.

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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