94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1513070
Exploring the Drivers of Otolith Sr/Ca during the Early Life Stages of Larimichthys polyactis: Insights from Cultured and Wild Populations
Provisionally accepted
Zhongjie Kang 1 Dade Song 1
Hushun ZHANG 1 Long Liang 1 Chengbin Zhang 1 Tao Jiang 2 Fei Zhu 1
Ying Xiong 1*- 1 Marine Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nantong, China
- 2 Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS), Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China
Otolith Sr/Ca profiles are widely used to investigate early life migration and habitat use in both diadromous and oceanodromous fishes. This study focuses on Larimichthys polyactis, an oceanodromous species of significant ecological and commercial importance in East Asian waters. This study investigates the influence of environmental factors on the otolith Sr/Ca ratios during its early life stages (ELS). In Experiment A, we analyzed both laboratory-reared specimens—maintained under stable temperature (19–21 °C) and salinity (27–28 PSU) conditions—and wild-captured specimens. The results revealed a consistent decline in Sr/Ca ratios throughout the ELS in both groups, suggesting that temperature and salinity may not be the primary drivers of otolith Sr/Ca ratios during early development. In Experiment B, Sr/Ca ratios in the core (incubation stage) and edge (recently spawned stage) zones of otoliths from both wild and laboratory-reared adult fish were compared. Sr/Ca ratios were significantly higher in the core zone than in the edge zone, indicating that maternal influences are may not be the main cause of elevated Sr/Ca ratios in the otolith core. Collectively, these findings suggest that otolith Sr/Ca ratios during ELS in L. polyactis are more affected by the ontogenetic developmental stage than by environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, or maternal effects. This challenges previous assumptions about the dominance of environmental factors in shaping otolith chemistry and highlights the need for more nuanced interpretations of Sr/Ca data, especially in studies of oceanodromous fishes. When utilizing otolith microchemistry to reconstruct life history, it is essential to minimize physiological effects through controlled culture experiments to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results.
Keywords: Larimichthys polyactis, Otolith Sr:Ca ratios, early life stages, cultured and wild populations, Environmental and physiological factors
Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 11 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kang, Song, ZHANG, Liang, Zhang, Jiang, Zhu and Xiong. 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:
Ying Xiong, Marine Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nantong, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.