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Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper

Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper
Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper
Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper
Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper
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335794
Joyce, Katherine S.
Cross section of otolith from adult schoolmaster snapper
Illustration
05/09/2008
McMahon_otolith_fish.jpg
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 47, No. 1, Pg. 11:
With a scalpel and microscope, graduate student Kelton McMahon carefully removes fish's delicate otoliths, or ear bones, each smaller than a grain of rice. Much like tree trunks, otoliths form sequential rings (top left) that correspond to different times in a growing fish's life. Each ring in the otolith gets imprinted with chemical isotopes from waters where the fish was living at the time the ring formed.
(Fish images retrieved from Wikepedia, public domain).
Image of The Day caption:
As a schoolmaster snapper grows, its ear bones, or otoliths, form sequential rings, much like a tree trunk, corresponding to different times in the fish's life. Each ring in the otolith get imprinted with chemical isotopes from the waters where the fish had been living during that period of time?a fishy chemical address book. By anlayzing these chemical clues, MIT-WHOI graduate student Kelton McMahon seeks to identify which nurseries for juvenile coral reef fish should be protected.
Illustration by Katherine Joyce
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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