Otolith microchemistry for determining natal origins of prey fishes in the Upper Mississippi River System

This dataset includes otolith and water chemistry used for determining natal origins of individuals from six species. The dataset contains Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca of water samples for the Mississippi River and tributaries as well as otolith Sr, Ba, Mg values from fishes collected in navigation pools 4, 8, 13, and 26 of the Upper Mississippi River, as well as the Open River Reach of the Middle Mississippi River and the La Grange Pool of the Illinois River. Fishes included Bullhead Minnow, Emerald Shiner, Gizzard Shad, Bluegill, Orangespotted Sunfish, and Yellow Perch. Laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry to quantify natal origins of these prey fish. Upwards of 50-75% of individuals at a given river reach were identified as immigrant or tributary origin individuals that at some point in their life moved to the mainstem river where they were captured. Importantly, sources of recruits occurred both upstream and downstream from capture locations of these fishes indicating that movement within the river is not unidirectional. Combined, our findings underscore the need to manage or conserve the Upper Mississippi River System collaboratively among state jurisdictions.

本数据集包含耳石（otolith）与水体化学组分数据，用于判定6个物种个体的出生起源地。数据集涵盖密西西比河及其支流的水体样品中锶钙比（Sr:Ca）与钡钙比（Ba:Ca）数据，以及采集自密西西比河上游航道池4、8、13、26段、密西西比河中游开阔河段以及伊利诺伊河拉格兰奇航道池的鱼类耳石内锶（Sr）、钡（Ba）、镁（Mg）含量数据。涉及的鱼类包括黑头鲦（Bullhead Minnow）、闪光棱鲦（Emerald Shiner）、美洲真鰶（Gizzard Shad）、蓝鳃太阳鱼（Bluegill）、斑点太阳鱼（Orangespotted Sunfish）以及黄鲈（Yellow Perch）。本研究采用激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法（Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry）对这些饵料鱼类的出生起源进行定量判定。在指定河段采集的个体中，有50%至75%以上被判定为外来个体或支流起源个体——这些个体在其生命周期的某个阶段迁移至捕获所在的干流河道。值得注意的是，补充种群的来源地同时位于鱼类捕获位点的上游与下游，这表明河道内的鱼类迁移并非单向。综合来看，本研究结果强调，需在各州司法管辖范围内协同开展密西西比河上游水系的管理与保护工作。