ELEMENTAL PATTERNS IN RED HIND (EPINEPHELUS-GUTTATUS) OTOLITHS FROM BERMUDA AND PUERTO-RICO REFLECT GROWTH-RATE, NOT TEMPERATURE

Sodium, sulfur, calcium, and strontium concentrations were measured (with an electron microprobe) across sectioned wild red hind (Epinephelus guttatus) otoliths from Puerto Rico and Bermuda. A single inverse relationship between strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios and log body growth rate describes the data from both localities. Patterns in Sr/Ca ratios have been used to infer temperature histories of individual fish; our data indicate that there is not a single Sr/Ca-temperature relationship capable of yielding a plausible temperature history across a single otolith, nor is there one that could give reasonable temperature histories for both the Puerto Rico and Bermuda otoliths. Previous findings of Sr/Ca-temperature relationships could be the result of body growth rate being correlated with temperature.