Can the Movements of Barramundi in the Fly River Region, Papua New Guinea be Traced in their Otoliths?

To determine whether the concentrations of heavy metals in fish otoliths could be used to infer the fish's movement into water contaminated by heavy metals, we collected barramundi Lates calcarifer from two sites below the outfall from a large copper mine. It was first demonstrated that otolith Sr concentration could be used to separate the marine and freshwater life phases. Twelve elements were then examined (in particular Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd and Pb) in the otoliths by laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Cadmium concentrations were rarely above the detection level of the instrument. There were low concentrations of Cu in the otoliths of most fish during the freshwater phase of their life history. Three fish out of 10 had higher levels of Cu at some ablations, coinciding with higher concentrations of both Zn and Pb. However, further analysis found no correlation between the Cu concentration of replicate ablations in the same growth zone to those with initially higher Cu values. Copper concentration in the otoliths did not rise during the period the fish were in freshwater, despite the concentration of dissolved Cu in the water being several times greater than in the lower estuary and adjacent coast. These results and other data from recent studies of heavy metals in fish tissues suggest that very little of the dissolved Cu in the Fly River is in the form of free ions that can be adsorbed across the gills and into the blood and the otoliths. It can be concluded that otoliths are not a good indicator of the history of barramundi movements into water contaminated with heavy metals. Our data support recent studies that suggest that the concentration of many elements, such as Cu, may vary in the endolymph around the otolith and thus may be attached to the calcium-binding proteins that form the matrix around the aragonite. Hence, high concentrations of heavy metals in some ablations may be related to the relative amount of aragonite and protein in each ablation rather than reflect environmental differences.