Trace Elements in Biogenic Aragonite: Correlation of Body Growth Rate and Strontium Levels in the Otoliths of the White Grunt, Haemulon Plumieri (Pisces: Haemulidae)

The chemistry of incrementally grown mineralized structures is often used to infer environmental parameters at the time the component layers are deposited. In particular, changes in strontium levels across the incrementally grown aragonite of corals, molluscs, and fish otoliths have been interpreted as reflecting temperature at the time of mineralization, Our examination of strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios of white grunt, Haemulon plumieri, otoliths from Puerto Rico and the coast of North and South Carolina, U.S.A., indicates that Sr/Ca ratios are not related to temperature in a simple manner. A single Sr/Ca-temperature relationship cannot be used across an entire otolith nor can such a relationship be used for otoliths from different geographic regions. Sr/Ca ratios are inversely correlated with log body growth rate. Previous findings of Sr/Ca-temperature relationships could be the result of body growth rate being correlated with temperature.