THEME SECTION Innovative use of sclerochronology in marine resource management Organizers: E. Hunter, V. V. Laptikhovsky, P. R. Hollyman Editors: Y. Cherel, S. Somarakis, S. R. Wing Marine Ecology Progress Series Vol. 598, pages 153–291 This Theme Section represents a selection of studies exploring the innovative use of sclero - chronology in resource management. Topics covered showcase the potential for sclerochro- nology to provide a deeper understanding of the interaction between marine life and its environment. Composite image of 2 statoliths from the same Buccinum undatum specimen displaying dif- ferent sclerochronological techniques. Photo credit: Philip Hollyman CONTENTS Hunter E, Laptikhovsky VV, Hollyman PR Fisher M, Hunter E INTRODUCTION: Innovative use of sclero - Digital imaging techniques in otolith data chronology in marine resource management ........ 155–158 capture, analysis and interpretation ……………… 213–231 Doubleday ZA, Cliff J, Izzo C, Gillanders BM Seeley ME, Walther BD Untapping the potential of sulfur isotope Facultative oligohaline habitat use in a analysis in biominerals ........................................... 159–166 mobile fish inferred from scale chemistry .............. 233–245 Darnaude AM, Hunter E Perales-Raya C, Nande M, Roura A, Validation of otolith δ18O values as effective Bartolomé A, Gestal C, Otero JJ, natural tags for shelf-scale geolocation of García-Fernández P, Almansa E migrating fish .........................................…………… 167–185 Comparative study of age estimation in wild and cultured Octopus vulgaris paralarvae: Schilling HT, Reis-Santos P, Hughes JM, effect of temperature and diet ................................ 247–259 Smith JA, Everett JD, Stewart J, Gillanders BM, Suthers IM Hollyman PR, Leng MJ, Chenery SRN, Evaluating estuarine nursery use and life Laptikhovsky VV, Richardson CA history patterns of Pomatomus saltatrix in Statoliths of the whelk Buccinum undatum: a eastern Australia .....................................…………… 187–199 novel age determination tool .................................. 261–271 Barrow J, Ford J, Day R, Morrongiello J Laptikhovsky VV, Barrett CJ, Hollyman PR Environmental drivers of growth and pre- REVIEW: From coral reefs to whale teeth: dicted effects of climate change on a commer- estimating mortality from natural accumu - cially important fish, Platycephalus laevigatus ..... 201–212 lations of skeletal materials ..................................... 273–291 Vol. 598: 155–158, 2018 MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES Published June 28 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12664 Mar Ecol Prog Ser Contribution to the Theme Section ‘Innovative use of sclerochronology in marine resource management’ OPEN ACCESS INTRODUCTION Innovative use of sclerochronology in marine resource management Ewan Hunter1,2,*, Vladimir V. Laptikhovsky1, Philip R. Hollyman3,4 1Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK 2School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK 3School of Ocean Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor, Menai Bridge, Anglesey LL59 5AB, UK 4Present address: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK ABSTRACT: In recent years, technical and analytical developments in sclerochronology, based on the analysis of accretionary hard tissues, have improved our ability to assess the life histories of a wide range of marine organisms. This Theme Section on the innovative use of sclerochronology was motivated by the cross-disciplinary session ‘Looking backwards to move ahead — how the wider application of new technologies to interpret scale, otolith, statolith and other biomineralised age-registering structures could improve management of natural resources’ convened at the 2016 ICES Annual Science Conference in Riga, Latvia. The contributions to this Theme Section provide examples of applications to improve the assessment and management of populations and habitats, or showcase the potential for sclerochronology to provide a deeper understanding of the inter - action between marine life and its environment, including the effects of changing climate. KEY WORDS: Sclerochronology · Otoliths · Statoliths · Scales · Beaks · Life-histories · Ageing · Fisheries management INTRODUCTION The combined analysis of historical and new data allows insights into past marine environmental con- In recent years, insights gained from sclerochronol- ditions that can inform future decision-making in ogy-based studies, primarily obtained through iso- fisheries management and environmental sciences. topic and trace element analyses of age-registering At the 2016 ICES Annual Science Conference in accretionary hard tissues, have contributed signifi- Riga, Latvia, the session ‘Looking backwards to move cantly to understanding the life-history biology of ahead—how the wider application of new techno - marine organisms, and the assessment and manage- logies to interpret scale, otolith, statolith and other ment of populations and habitats (Arkhipkin 2005, biomineralised age-registering structures could im - Geffen et al. 2016, Grønkjær 2016, Tanner et al. 2016, prove management of natural resources’ (ICES 2016) Tzadik et al. 2017). Beyond single species and niche was held to broaden understanding, expedite cross- analyses, sclerochronology has provided a deeper fertilisation between different but related areas of understanding of the interaction between marine life sclerochronology, and facilitate the wider uptake of and its environment, including the effects of chang- state-of-the-art approaches. The session attendees ing climate (Morrongiello et al. 2012, Ong et al. 2016, aimed to address assessment and management appli - 2018). At a time of worldwide funding constraints in cations, from species-specific ageing methods and applied science (UNESCO 2017), sclerochronological migration studies to analytical stock assessments, analyses of existing time-series sample collections using data collected with novel techniques. The cross- are a comparatively affordable way of data mining. disciplinary session was intended to include technical © The authors 2018. Open Access under Creative Commons by *Corresponding author: [email protected] Attribution Licence. Use, distribution and reproduction are un - restricted. Authors and original publication must be credited. Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.com 156 Mar Ecol Prog Ser 598: 155–158, 2018 and ecological studies emphasising new methods but not included in the Theme Section comprised and ap proaches to ageing and the use of aging data examples of incremental analysis and morphomet- in a broad range of species and taxa. This resultant rics, pollution monitoring, and chemical marking to Theme Section presents a selection of papers either assess the effectiveness of artificial restocking. presented at, or representative of, the session at the Otoliths remain the focus for most fish ageing 2016 ICES meeting. Held over 2 days, we attracted research; however, fish chemical archives beyond 43 contributions from 34 institutes (across 17 coun- otoliths are also important (Tzadik et al. 2017), tries), over half of which were fish-centred, most notably non-lethal sampling strategies for rare, focussing on aspects of otolith science. endangered, and long-lived fishes. Seeley & Walther (2018 in this Theme Section) successfully applied inorganic and organic proxies to reconstruct migra- INNOVATIVE USE OF SCLEROCHRONOLOGY tion and dietary histories from scales of the Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus, demonstrating trans- Otolith chemistry remains a driving force in fish haline migrations associated with ontogenetic trophic population dynamics studies (e.g. Sturrock et al. shifts. With scale architecture facilitating sequential 2012, Tanner et al. 2016, Izzo et al. 2018). The poten- sub-sampling, this approach is an encouraging ex - tial of sulphur isotopes (δ34S) as biogeochemical ample of a non-lethal natural tag with clear fisheries markers in fish was examined by Doubleday et al. management applications and citizen-science engage- (2018 in this Theme Section), who provided evidence ment opportunities. suggesting that otolith δ34S concentrations recorded The non-fish contributions to our meeting were al- by juvenile tank-grown barramundi were influenced most exclusively molluscan (cephalopod, gastropod by both ambient water and diet. Underlining the and bivalve ageing, and biochronology studies), re- importance of validating chemical signatures ob - flecting the increasing scale and commercial impor- served in the otoliths of wild fishes, Darnaude & tance of cephalopod and shellfish fisheries (Anderson Hunter (2018 in this Theme Section) explored spatial et al. 2011, Doubleday et al. 2016). Until recently, and temporal variability in the acuity of otolith δ18O squid have been aged primarily from statolith growth for providing fishery-independent estimates of fish increments. Daily periodicity in increment formation location, by comparing the ambient environmental is well established, but is related to diurnal feeding experience of North Sea plaice Pleuronectes platessa patterns rather than diurnal environmental cycles achival tags with δ18O recorded simultaneously in the (Boyle & Rodhouse 2005), so periodic starvation can otoliths from the same fish. Schilling et al. (2018 in potentially bias age readings. The ‘chalky’ statoliths this Theme Section) combined adult otolith elemen- of octopods,