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Teleost and elasmobranch eye lenses as a target for life-history stable isotope analyses

Teleost and elasmobranch eye lenses as a target for life-history stable isotope analyses
Teleost and elasmobranch eye lenses as a target for life-history stable isotope analyses

Incrementally grown, metabolically inert tissues such as fish otoliths provide biochemi- cal records that can used to infer behavior and physiology throughout the lifetime of the individual. Organic tissues are particularly useful as the stable isotope composition of the organic component can provide information about diet, trophic level and location. Unfortunately, inert, incrementally grown organic tissues are relatively uncommon. The vertebrate eye lens, however, is formed via sequential deposition of protein- filled fiber cells, which are subsequently metabolically inert. Lenses therefore have the potential to serve as biochemical data recorders capturing life-long variations in dietary and spatial ecology. Here we review the state of knowledge regarding the structure and formation of fish eye lenses in the context of using lens tissue for retrospective isotopic analysis. We discuss the relationship between eye lens diameter and body size, describe the successful recovery of expected isotopic gradients throughout ontogeny and between species, and quantify the isotopic offset between lens protein and white muscle tissue. We show that fish eye lens protein is an attractive host for recovery of stable isotope life histories, particularly for juvenile life stages, and especially in elasmobranchs lacking otoliths, but interpretation of lens-based records is complicated by species-specific uncertainties associated with lens growth rates.

Carbon, Nitrogen, Sclerochronology, Shark, Teleost
2167-8359
1-26
Quaeck-Davies, Katie
87f9de05-4c38-49fe-b77c-e1b149ca5b5e
Bendall, Victoria A.
d8f846eb-21d3-4ccf-9b16-2af77333a8f9
MacKenzie, Kirsteen M.
512f2b73-f8e4-4ab4-8d91-16c0a2084120
Hetherington, Stuart
57671701-a752-4e90-8021-59c315b3ab4f
Newton, Jason
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Trueman, Clive N.
d00d3bd6-a47b-4d47-89ae-841c3d506205
Quaeck-Davies, Katie
87f9de05-4c38-49fe-b77c-e1b149ca5b5e
Bendall, Victoria A.
d8f846eb-21d3-4ccf-9b16-2af77333a8f9
MacKenzie, Kirsteen M.
512f2b73-f8e4-4ab4-8d91-16c0a2084120
Hetherington, Stuart
57671701-a752-4e90-8021-59c315b3ab4f
Newton, Jason
0d986c1e-4ecf-4854-aced-0197cf446ce0
Trueman, Clive N.
d00d3bd6-a47b-4d47-89ae-841c3d506205

Quaeck-Davies, Katie, Bendall, Victoria A., MacKenzie, Kirsteen M., Hetherington, Stuart, Newton, Jason and Trueman, Clive N. (2018) Teleost and elasmobranch eye lenses as a target for life-history stable isotope analyses. PeerJ, 2018 (6), 1-26, [e4883]. (doi:10.7717/peerj.4883).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Incrementally grown, metabolically inert tissues such as fish otoliths provide biochemi- cal records that can used to infer behavior and physiology throughout the lifetime of the individual. Organic tissues are particularly useful as the stable isotope composition of the organic component can provide information about diet, trophic level and location. Unfortunately, inert, incrementally grown organic tissues are relatively uncommon. The vertebrate eye lens, however, is formed via sequential deposition of protein- filled fiber cells, which are subsequently metabolically inert. Lenses therefore have the potential to serve as biochemical data recorders capturing life-long variations in dietary and spatial ecology. Here we review the state of knowledge regarding the structure and formation of fish eye lenses in the context of using lens tissue for retrospective isotopic analysis. We discuss the relationship between eye lens diameter and body size, describe the successful recovery of expected isotopic gradients throughout ontogeny and between species, and quantify the isotopic offset between lens protein and white muscle tissue. We show that fish eye lens protein is an attractive host for recovery of stable isotope life histories, particularly for juvenile life stages, and especially in elasmobranchs lacking otoliths, but interpretation of lens-based records is complicated by species-specific uncertainties associated with lens growth rates.

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peerj-4883 - Version of Record
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 11 May 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 June 2018
Published date: 4 June 2018
Keywords: Carbon, Nitrogen, Sclerochronology, Shark, Teleost

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 421669
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421669
ISSN: 2167-8359
PURE UUID: 8352dd25-64de-4db9-a316-22b9085d88ab
ORCID for Clive N. Trueman: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4995-736X

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Date deposited: 20 Jun 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:35

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Contributors

Author: Katie Quaeck-Davies
Author: Victoria A. Bendall
Author: Kirsteen M. MacKenzie
Author: Stuart Hetherington
Author: Jason Newton

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