Otolith accumulation rates in sediment core M144_5-6 from the central western Aegean Sea

Otolith accumulation rates (OAR) and fish family composition were analyzed throughout core M144 KC5-6, including Myctophidae, Sternoptychidae, Engraulidae, Gadidae, and Gonostomatidae, representing the most common taxa of the otolith record. A total number of 3272 otoliths has been classified. Otolith count and identification was performed on both cores A and B, with lower resolution between 0.5 cm and 151.5 cm, and highest resolution between 152.5 cm and 272.5 cm, using a binocular stereo microscope (magnification 10x – 20x) and a bifurcated illuminator. OAR was estimated by dividing raw otolith counts by dry bulk sediment mass, and further multiplied with sediment accumulation rate and dry bulk density of each sample and multiplied by ten. Identification of otoliths to the lowest taxonomic level is based on an automatic taxon identification software, web database, and otolith catalogs from the Mediterranean region. The predominance of the target families \"Myctophidae, Engraulidae, and Sternoptychidae\" comprising over 81% of the fossil assemblage, provides a robust dataset for analyzing their population dynamics over the last 11.4 kyr, to describe fish response to changing environmental conditions, before, during and after sapropel S1 deposition, as discussed in Pallacks et al. (in review).