Otolith microchemistry of adult bigheaded carp for determining early-life environments in the Upper Mississippi River 2016-2018
Dates
Start Date
2015-10-08
End Date
2017-02-14
Publication Date
2021-11-02
Citation
Anderson, C., Lamer, J., and Whitledge, G., 2021, Otolith microchemistry of adult bigheaded carp for determining early-life environments in the Upper Mississippi River 2016-2018: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9CLPG40.
Summary
Data set includes water Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O for the Mississippi River and tributaries, and otolith Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O data from bigheaded carp (Silver Carp and BIghead Carp) collected in navigation pools 16-19 of the Upper Mississippi River in 2016 to 2018. Bigheaded carp (Bighead Carp and Silver Carp) are invasive species in the US and have spread throughout most of the lower Mississippi River Basin. Population abundance upstream of Lock and Dam 19 (LD19) on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has likely been limited by the high-head dam at this location, which restricts all upstream fish passage to the lock chamber. To determine early-life environments of adult bigheaded carp captured upstream LD19 at the invasion front, in [...]
Summary
Data set includes water Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O for the Mississippi River and tributaries, and otolith Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, and δ18O data from bigheaded carp (Silver Carp and BIghead Carp) collected in navigation pools 16-19 of the Upper Mississippi River in 2016 to 2018. Bigheaded carp (Bighead Carp and Silver Carp) are invasive species in the US and have spread throughout most of the lower Mississippi River Basin. Population abundance upstream of Lock and Dam 19 (LD19) on the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has likely been limited by the high-head dam at this location, which restricts all upstream fish passage to the lock chamber. To determine early-life environments of adult bigheaded carp captured upstream LD19 at the invasion front, in an area of intense management (Pools 16-19), we measured otolith (lapillus) stable isotope composition and elemental microchemistry of 146 Silver Carp (n = 77 females and n = 69 males) and 141 Bighead Carp (n = 76 females and n = 65 males). Otolith oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) and elemental ratios (Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca) were compared to values of isotope and elemental ratios in water from putative early-life environments to assign early-life environment for each fish.
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AC Otolith chemistry_Anderson et al.xml Original FGDC Metadata
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Water chemistry_data.csv
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Purpose
Data were collected to: 1) characterize multivariate water chemistry signatures (Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca and δ18O) among the Upper Mississippi River, its tributaries, and the Missouri and Middle Mississippi rivers; 2) infer environments occupied during early life stages by bigheaded carps collected in Upper Mississippi River Pools 16-19 using otolith microchemistry and stable isotope analyses, and (3) use early life environment assignments and capture location to identify individuals that passed through Lock and Dam 19 and (4) expand on and update previous finding published in Whitledge et. al. 2019. Information derived from these data will be useful to inform management decisions for controlling Asian carp in the Upper Mississippi River and elsewhere by identifying sources of adult invasive carp at invasion fronts. Water chemistry data will be potentially useful as baseline data for studies using calcified structure chemistry to infer environmental history of other fish species in the Upper Mississippi River. Bigheaded carp otolith chemistry data and data on early life environments of fish sampled for this project will potentially be useful for future studies to assess how early life environments supporting recruitment of these species in the Upper Mississippi River may have changed over time. Citation for Whitledge et. al. 2019: Whitledge, G. W., B. Knights, J. Vallazza, J. Larson, M. J. Weber, J. T. Lamer, Q. E. Phelps, and J. D. Norman. 2019. Identification of Bighead Carp and Silver Carp early-life environments and inferring Lock and Dam 19 passage in the Upper Mississippi River: insights from otolith chemistry. Biological Invasions 21: 1007–1020.
