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Tracking long-distance migration of marine fish using compound-specific stable isotope analysis of amino acids
  • +12
  • Jun Matsubayashi,
  • Yutaka Osada,
  • Kazuaki Tadokoro,
  • Yoshiyuki Abe,
  • Atsushi Yamaguchi,
  • Kotaro Shirai,
  • Kentaro Honda,
  • Chisato Yoshikawa,
  • Nanako Ogawa,
  • Naohiko Ohkouchi,
  • Naoto Ishikawa,
  • Toshi Nagata,
  • Hiroomi Miyamoto,
  • Shigeto Nishino,
  • Ichiro Tayasu
Jun Matsubayashi
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

Corresponding Author:matsu-jun@jamstec.go.jp

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Yutaka Osada
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
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Kazuaki Tadokoro
Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute
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Yoshiyuki Abe
The University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
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Atsushi Yamaguchi
Hokkaido University Faculty of Fisheries Sciences Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences School of Fisheries Sciences
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Kotaro Shirai
University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
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Kentaro Honda
Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute Fisheries Research Agency
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Chisato Yoshikawa
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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Nanako Ogawa
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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Naohiko Ohkouchi
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science & Technology
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Naoto Ishikawa
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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Toshi Nagata
The University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute
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Hiroomi Miyamoto
Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute
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Shigeto Nishino
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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Ichiro Tayasu
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
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Abstract

Long-distance migrations by marine fish have long fascinated scientists, but are difficult to track by visual surveys. Here, we propose a new method to easily and precisely track such migrations using stable nitrogen isotopic composition at the base of the food web (δ15NBase), which can be estimated by using compound-specific isotope analysis. δ15NBase exclusively reflects the δ15N of nitrate in the ocean at a regional scale and is not affected by the trophic position of sampled organisms. We initially constructed a δ15NBase isoscape in the northern North Pacific, and determined retrospective δ15NBase values of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) from their vertebral centra. Then, we estimated the migration routes of chum salmon during their skeletal growth by using a state-space model. Our isotope tracking method successfully reproduced a known chum salmon migration route between the Okhotsk and Bering seas, and indicates the presence of a novel migration route to the eastern Bering Sea Shelf during a later growth stage.
19 Nov 2019Submitted to Ecology Letters
19 Nov 2019Submission Checks Completed
19 Nov 2019Assigned to Editor
25 Nov 2019Reviewer(s) Assigned
06 Jan 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
10 Jan 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
24 Jan 20201st Revision Received
27 Jan 2020Submission Checks Completed
27 Jan 2020Assigned to Editor
31 Jan 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
23 Feb 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
25 Feb 2020Editorial Decision: Accept