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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Freshw. Sci.
Sec. Rivers and Floodplains
Volume 2 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/ffwsc.2024.1475115
This article is part of the Research Topic Editors' Showcase: Rivers and Floodplains View all 4 articles
An Evaluation of Fin Ray Microchemistry to Describe Movement of White Sturgeon in the Kootenai River Basin: Insights and Limitations
Provisionally accepted- 1 College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, United States
- 2 Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Boise, Idaho, United States
- 3 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
- 4 University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus in the Kootenai River basin is listed as endangered in the United States and Canada. Declines have been mainly attributed to poor recruitment exacerbated by the environmental effects of Libby Dam in Montana. Reduced primary production downstream of Libby Dam has been identified as one factor limiting growth of White Sturgeon, thereby limiting natural reproduction through delayed sexual maturity. However, estimating changes in growth over time without knowledge of fish location (i.e., Kootenai River vs. Kootenay Lake) is difficult. The objective of this project was to use microchemistry analysis to describe the movement of White Sturgeon within the Kootenai River basin. Water samples (n = 27) and White Sturgeon fin rays (n = 162) collected in the Kootenai River basin were measured for strontium isotope ( 87 Sr: 86 Sr) ratios using laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. All water samples and a subset of fin rays (n = 8) were also analyzed for trace elements (e.g., Sr, Ba, Mg). Fin ray annuli were measured and tested using knowledge of known age; known locations from physical capture events were assigned to age at capture. Strontium isotope analysis was unable to detect differences in the Kootenai River and Kootenay Lake using water or fin ray samples. The Kootenai River and Kootenay Lake were distinguishable using trace element data from water samples, but not fin rays. The discrepancy with trace elements appears to be associated with the physiology of fin ray growth. Although this study did not meet its original objective of describing the movement of White Sturgeon in the Kootenai River basin from fin ray microchemistry, our results provide insight into the potential influence of physiology on microchemistry analysis. In particular, fin ray microchemistry of slow-growing fishes may be possible in freshwater systems with further investigation into the physiological processes associated with growth and the incorporation of elements into calcified structures.
Keywords: sturgeon1, microchemistry2, movement dynamics3, endangered species4, strontium isotopes5, Trace elements5
Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Sep 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Ghere, Quist, Hardy, Willmes, Lewis, Wilson and Smith. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Courtnie L. Ghere, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, United States
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