Escape incidents of farmed fish involve economic losses to fish farms, interactions with local fisheries and environmental impacts to coastal ecosystems. In order to ensure a sustainable aquaculture activity it is advisable to gather any kind of information about the escapees for further management strategies. In this study, we aimed to trace the life history of escaped meagre (Argyrosomus regius) through otoliths microchemistry, based on the assumption that escaped fish experience different environmental conditions once they are outside the net-pen compared to their farmed conspecifics. Strontium (Sr⁸⁸) and barium (Ba¹³⁸) composition was analyzed using laser-ablation ICP-MS along core-to-edge transects of right sagittal otoliths on escaped and farmed meagre from the same coastal area in the W-Mediterranean Sea. Overall, results showed similar patterns of Sr concentrations throughout the otolith transects between farmed and escaped meagre, although some differences can be observed at specific periods of fish life for Ba concentrations. Consequently, temporal variations regarding otolith Sr:Ba ratios differed between farmed and escaped meagre, suggesting that farmed and escaped fish shared the same origin (rearing at coastal farms) but inhabited in different conditions from a certain time of their life. However, core-to-edge Sr:Ba values also differed among escaped individuals, which might indicate that each individual escaped in different periods. Consequently, the otolith Sr:Ba ratio seemed to be a good indicator of differences between fish groups, showing different temporal patterns. Nevertheless, the limitation of the low number of sampled individuals prevented to draw clearer conclusions. Further research is necessary in order to investigate the potential use of otolith microchemistry as a practical tool to trace of escaped fish, and consequently, to help solving potential conflicts among coastal users improving management of potential negative socioeconomic and ecological impacts.

养殖鱼类的逃逸事件涉及养鱼场的经济损失，与当地渔业的相互作用以及对沿海生态系统的环境影响。为了确保可持续的水产养殖活动，建议收集有关逃逸者的任何信息，以采取进一步的管理策略。在这项研究中，我们旨在通过耳石微化学来追踪逃生的微薄鱼类（Argyrosomus regius）的生活史，其依据是，假设逃逸的鱼类一旦脱离网兜，与养殖的同种动物相比会经历不同的环境条件。锶（Sr ⁸⁸）和钡（Ba ¹³⁸使用激光烧蚀ICP-MS沿着W-Mediterranean Sea的同一沿海地区从逃逸和养殖的微薄的右矢状耳石的核心到边缘横断面分析了成分。总体而言，结果表明，在养殖和逃生的微藻之间，整个耳石横断面的Sr浓度模式相似，尽管在鱼类生命的特定时期，Ba浓度存在一些差异。因此，在养殖和逃逸的微藻之间，关于耳石Sr：Ba比率的时间变化是不同的，这表明，养殖和逃逸的鱼具有相同的起源（在沿海养殖场养殖），但在生命的某个时期居住在不同的条件下。但是，逃脱的个体中核心到边缘的Sr：Ba值也有所不同，这可能表明每个个体在不同的时期都逃脱了。所以，耳石的Sr：Ba比似乎是鱼群之间差异的良好指标，显示出不同的时间模式。然而，由于抽样人数少的限制，无法得出更明确的结论。为了调查耳石微化学作为追踪逃生鱼类的实用工具的潜在用途，有必要进行进一步的研究，从而帮助解决沿海使用者之间的潜在冲突，从而改善对潜在的负面社会经济和生态影响的管理。