Earliest Larval Striped Bass Otoliths Predict Watershed of Maternal Origin

Otoliths and muscle, liver, kidney, and gonadal tissues were taken from 37 adult Striped Bass from 4 rivers (Roanoke, Neuse, Tar and Cape Fear) to determine pathways of possible maternal trace element contribution to developing otoliths in Striped Bass progeny.  Soft tissues were analyzed using ICP-OES and the adult otoliths were analyzed using LA-ICP-MS.  Elements deposited within the last year of life in adult otoliths were averaged before subjecting to hierarchical cluster analysis.  Gonads discriminated between adult otolith clusters > 70% of the time indicating that gonadal tissues should be major contributors of trace elements to progeny otoliths.  Striped Bass progeny from known mothers were examined to determine the extent and timing of maternal contribution in progeny sagittal otoliths during early ontogeny.  Embryo sagittal otoliths correctly identified the maternal clusters 100% of the time, yolk sac larvae 75% of the time, and non-yolk sac larvae only 44.74% of the time.  Progeny otoliths also identified maternal river; embryos classified the river 75% of the time, yolk sac larvae 87.5% of the time and non-yolk sac larvae 44.19% of the time.  Study results validate the hypothesis of maternal contribution and support the hypothesis of trans-generational markers for anadromous and resident fish.