High-resolution isotope analysis of young alewife Alosa pseudoharengus otoliths: assessment of temporal resolution and reconstruction of habitat occupancy and thermal history

Otoliths of age 0 year alewife Alosa pseudoharengus collected in different Lake Michigan habitats were microsampled, and carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (delta O-18(otolith) and delta C-13(otolith)) of resulting microsamples were quantified. To assess the temporal resolution of the method, age and otolith growth rates were also estimated by counting otolith daily growth increments. Core and outer intra-otolith samples averaged 36 and 23 days, respectively. Because of the accretionary nature of otolith growth, a habitat switch by a larva occurring between 0 and 18 days post-hatch may not be recognized by this approach. Taking this temporal resolution into account, A. pseudoharengus habitat occupancy and thermal history in nearshore Lake Michigan, and a connecting drowned river-mouth lake were documented. Comparisons between delta O-18(otolith) and delta C-13(otolith) profiles, and isotope values of Lake Michigan habitats suggested that movements by individual fish between a nearshore area of Lake Michigan proper and drowned river-mouth lake habitats were rare. Some individuals evidently moved between habitats, and such movements occurred during different periods of ontogeny. Thermal reconstructions, based on delta O-18(otolith) values suggested that during early life (e.g. first month of life) young A. pseudoharengus appeared to inhabit microhabitats with temperatures greater than mean epilimnetic temperatures. This study demonstrates not only the utility of intra-otolith geochemical analysis to describe the complexity of fish behaviour in fresh water but also identifies limitations of the present approach.