Abstract
Otoliths can record growth information of fishes. This information is valuable in reconstructing growth history and evaluating environmental changes on marine resources. Small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) is a commercially and ecologically important species in the East China Sea. Yet, continuous long-term growth patterns and the environmental factors that affect growth remain unknown. In this study, 17 years of otolith growth pattern of small yellow croaker was reconstructed using chronology analysis. Mixed modeling was applied to identify the effects of physical and biological processes on growth patterns, as well as the key climate driver that influences the species. The optimal model was built by a random slope and intercept for FishID, random intercept for Year and Cohort, and Age as an intrinsic factor. Reconstructed otolith growth demonstrated significant variability among years and cohorts, with a short-term pattern observed in periods of 3–5 years. The growth of small yellow croaker negatively responded to rising summer temperature, and such response coincides with recent population dynamic that shifts northwards. Kuroshio intrusions during winter promoted the otolith growth of small yellow croaker for the following year. The result helps better understand and predict population dynamic of small yellow croaker, but the revealed situation of resource is not encouraging and makes management challenging. Active fishery management measures for biological characters of fish populations should be considered.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Captain Shifang Liu for his assistance in sample collection.
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This study was financially supported by the National Key R and D Program of China (2018YFD0900903).
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Zhang, C., Ye, Z. Inter-annual otolith growth pattern of adult small yellow croaker in the East China Sea and its response to environmental changes. Environ Biol Fish 104, 1643–1653 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01192-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01192-7