Abstract:

Early juveniles served as survivors of the egg and larval periods and spawning-ground origins for early juveniles can be inferred from eye-lens isotopes to determine if some spawning areas supply more early juveniles than other areas. Eye-lens samples provided a lifetime, seasonal-scale records of stable-isotope histories for individual fish that can be combined with isotope maps to infer geographic movement history; these records also revealed information on the individual’s position in the food web. Specimens for this task originated from SEAMAP groundfish trawl surveys on the WFS, private fishing vessels, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) fishery-independent monitoring collections in nearshore areas along the west coast of Florida. One lens per individual fish was dissected and 13C/12C, 15N/14N, and C:N was measured.

Suggested Citation:

Peebles, Ernst, Chris Stallings, and Julie Vecchio. 2020. Eye lens isotope data collected from offshore Florida reef fish, 2015-07-06 to 2017-10-20. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-tgpy-hs19

Purpose:

Eye lens isotopes determine lifetime, seasonal-scale records of stable isotope histories for individual fish to infer geographic movement history and trophic position.

Data Parameters and Units:

Collection Number, Collection Date, Latitude-Longitude (decimal degrees), Sample Location, Species, Specimen Number, standard length (mm), fork length (mm), total length (mm), total weight (g), gutted weight (g), liver weight (g), sex, eye layer, Eye Diameter (mm), diameter midpoint (mm), radial midpoint (mm), d15N corrected AT Air, d13C corrected VPDB, SampleMass (mg), N (mg), C (mg), percent N, percent C, N (µmol), C (µmol), C:N (mass), C:N (molar). VPDB is Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite.

Instruments:

Carlo-Erba NA2500 Series II elemental analyzer coupled to a continuous-flow Thermo-Finnigan Delta+ XL isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Error Analysis:

Calibration standards were NIST 8573 and NIST 8574 L-glutamic acid standard reference materials. Analytical precision was measured using NIST 1577b bovine liver.

Individual Files: