The small pelagic fish capelin (Mallotus villosus) is widely distributed in the Arctic, where it plays a central role in the marine food web as prey for numerous fish, birds, and mammals. Sustainable fisheries management advice for capelin that spawn in Greenland is non-existent due in part to a lack of biological information on population structure and spatial dynamics. This study provides a chemical baseline for investigations of migration and population structure of capelin and potentially other marine organisms in Greenlandic waters, using chemical tracers in otoliths from 549 spawning capelin, collected from 18 localities along Greenland's coastline. Abundances of 14 elements were measured in otolith edges, and geographic variations were demonstrated for Li, Ba, Sr, Pb, Mg, P, Zn, and Mn. Linear discriminant analysis identified chemical disparity between otoliths from three regions along the coastline. The west coast contains two chemically distinct zones – north and south of ∼68 °N – based primarily on distributions of Li and Ba as indicators of environmental variability. Two localities exhibit elevated levels of Mg, P, Zn, and Mn; elements that are typically regulated by physiological mechanisms. The results demonstrate the applicability of otolith chemistry as a tracer of physicochemical variation in an arctic marine environment undergoing rapid climatic changes.

小中上层鱼类毛鳞鱼（Mallotus villosus）广泛分布在北极地区，在海洋食物网中扮演着重要角色，是众多鱼类，鸟类和哺乳动物的猎物。格陵兰产的毛鳞鱼的可持续渔业管理建议不存在，部分原因是缺乏有关种群结构和空间动态的生物学信息。这项研究提供了化学基线，用于调查格陵兰水域中海鳞鱼和可能的其他海洋生物的迁移和种群结构，使用了从549个产卵海鳞鱼的耳石中的化学示踪剂，这些示踪剂来自格陵兰沿海的18个地区。在耳石边缘测量了14种元素的丰度，并证明了Li，Ba，Sr，Pb，Mg，P，Zn和Mn的地理差异。线性判别分析确定了沿海岸线三个地区的耳石之间的化学差异。西海岸包含两个化学上明显不同的区域-约68°N的北部和南部-主要基于Li和Ba的分布作为环境变化的指标。两个地区的Mg，P，Zn和Mn含量较高；通常由生理机制调节的元素。结果证明了耳石化学作为在经历快速气候变化的北极海洋环境中物理化学变化的示踪剂的适用性。通常由生理机制调节的元素。结果证明了耳石化学作为在经历快速气候变化的北极海洋环境中物理化学变化的示踪剂的适用性。通常由生理机制调节的元素。结果证明了耳石化学作为在经历快速气候变化的北极海洋环境中物理化学变化的示踪剂的适用性。