Nursery origin and population connectivity of swordfish Xiphias gladius in the North Pacific Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Element:Ca ratios in the otolith cores of young-of-the-year (YOY) swordfish, Xiphias gladius, were used as natural tracers to predict the nursery origin of subadult and adult swordfish from three foraging grounds in the North Pacific Ocean (NPO). First, the chemistry of otolith cores (proxy for nursery origin) was used to develop nursery-specific elemental signatures in YOY swordfish. Sagittal otoliths of YOY swordfish were collected from four regional nurseries in the NPO between 2000 and 2005: (1) Central Equatorial North Pacific Ocean (CENPO), (2) Central North Pacific Ocean (CNPO), (3) Eastern Equatorial North Pacific Ocean (EENPO) and (4) Western North Pacific Ocean (WNPO). Calcium (⁴³ Ca), magnesium (²⁴ Mg), strontium (⁸⁸ Sr) and barium (¹³⁸

SUBMITTER: Wells RJD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8519116 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature