Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2017
Publication Title
Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies
First Page
1
Last Page
13
Abstract
Stable isotope ecology typically involves sacrificing the animal to obtain tissues. However, with threatened species or in long-term longitudinal studies, non-lethal sampling techniques should be used. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine if caudal fin tissue could be used as a non-lethal proxy to liver and muscle for stable isotope analysis, and (2) assess the effects of ethanol preservation on δ15N and δ13C in fin tissue of juvenile yellow perch Perca flavescens. The δ13C of caudal fin was not significantly different from liver (t23 = −0.58; p = 0.57), and was more correlated with δ15N in liver (r2 = 0.78) than muscle (r2 = 0.56). Ethanol preservation enriched 15N and 13C for caudal fins, but by using our developed regression models, these changes in δ15N and δ13C can now be corrected. Overall, caudal fin tissue is a more reliable proxy to liver than muscle for δ15N and δ13C in yellow perch.
DOI
10.1080/10256016.2017.1391242
Recommended Citation
McCloskey, Meagan; Yurkowski, David J.; and Semeniuk, Christina A. D., "Validating fin tissue as a non-lethal proxy to liver and muscle tissue for stable isotope analysis of yellow perch (Perca flavescens)" (2017). Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 1-13.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/biologypub/1168
Comments
This research was supported by funding from NSERC PGS-M and OGS (MM), W. Garfield Weston Foundation (DJY), NSERC Discovery Grant and a UWindsor Research Grant for Women (CADS).