The Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica is a key species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, and it is potentially threatened by the climate change affecting Antarctic ecosystems. Assessing the possible exposure to similar or different environmental conditions at early life stages and gathering information about connectivity or segregation between local populations of P. antarctica can be key for planning sound management strategies for this species. By using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, we characterized the otolith chemical composition of 163 adult Antarctic silverfish collected from three areas located thousands of kilometers apart from each other: Cape Hallett, Adelie Land, and Joinville Island. Otoliths were analyzed for chemical composition of both the edge (reflecting the exposure of individuals to environmental conditions at the site where they were sampled) and the core (reflecting exposure to environmental conditions during early life periods after the egg fertilization). We found that the chemical composition along otolith edges was heterogeneous between samples collected at Joinville Island and those collected at the other two sampling areas. In contrast, the chemical composition of otolith cores was homogenous. Our study suggests that adult Antarctic silverfish inhabiting areas very distant from each other have been exposed to similar environmental conditions at early life stages, and could have experienced similar growth rates and physiological processes. This would imply that environmental drivers probably do not play a role in determining potential spatial variability in individual fitness at early life stages, and should not have a major impact on population replenishment.

南极银鱼Pleuragramma antarctica是南大洋生态系统中的关键物种，它可能受到影响南极生态系统的气候变化的威胁。评估在生命早期阶段可能接触类似或不同环境条件的情况，并收集有关P当地种群之间连通性或隔离的信息。南极洲可能是为该物种规划合理管理策略的关键。通过使用激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法，我们对从相距数千公里的三个区域收集的 163 条成年南极蠹鱼的耳石化学成分进行了表征：哈利特角、阿德利地和儒因维尔岛。分析了耳石的边缘（反映个体在采样地点暴露于环境条件）和核心（反映在卵子受精后的早期生命期间暴露于环境条件）的化学成分。我们发现，在Joinville Island 收集的样本和在其他两个采样区域收集的样本之间，沿耳石边缘的化学成分是不均匀的。相比之下，耳石核心的化学成分是均匀的。我们的研究表明，生活在彼此相距很远的地区的成年南极蠹鱼在生命早期暴露于相似的环境条件，并且可能经历了相似的生长速度和生理过程。这意味着环境驱动因素可能在确定生命早期阶段个体适应性的潜在空间变异性方面没有发挥作用，也不应对种群补充产生重大影响。