A needle in a haystack: strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in otoliths identify origin of largemouth bass from a large Southwest reservoir

Author:

Vaisvil Alexander1ORCID,Willmes Malte2ORCID,Enriquez Edward J.3,Klein Zachary B.4,Caldwell Colleen A.5ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA

2. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway

3. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Las Cruces, NM, USA

4. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

5. U.S. Geological Survey, New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Las Cruces, NM, USA

Abstract

Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, a popular warm water sport fish, is routinely stocked in reservoirs throughout the USA to augment wild populations. Evaluating if these supplementations are successful requires distinguishing hatchery-sourced fish from their wild counterparts. From 2011 to 2019, over 467 000 largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked from multiple hatchery sources into a large southwestern reservoir (Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico, USA) to supplement the sport fish population. To identify hatchery-sourced largemouth bass, we measured strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) and determined ages using otoliths and dorsal spines. Otolith analysis of 169 fish classified 92.9% ( n = 159) to the reservoir with few fish of hatchery origin (2 from Arkansas, 1.2%, and 1 from Montana, 0.6%). While stocking over 467 000 fingerlings across 8 years appears to reflect negligible stocking success, it is likely that low and variable stocking densities (average 3.0, range 0.29–7.77 fish·ha−1) contributed to the low stocking success in Elephant Butte Reservoir. Dorsal fin spines did not yield accurate age reconstructions and their 87Sr/86Sr values were affected by matrix interferences preventing source assignments.

Funder

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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