OTOLITHS OF DEEP-WATER FISHES - STRUCTURE, CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICALLY-CODED LIFE HISTORIES

1. The gross anatomy and crystalline ultrastructure of the external surfaces has been described for the sagittal otoliths of a 6 million year old fossil otolith and the following bottom-living deep-water teleosts (families in parenthesis): Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (Macrouridae), Coryphaenoides (Chalinura) mediterraneus (Macrouridae), Cetonurus globiceps (Macrouridae), Coryphaenoids (Chalinura) leptolepis (Macrouridae), Antimora rostrata (Moridae), Halosaurus pectoralis (Halosauridae), Psychrolutes obesus and Neophrynichthys angustus (Psychroultidae). 2. Sections of otoliths were scanned by proton microprobe to yield three dimensional maps of the elemental density of calcium, strontium and, in some otoliths, zinc. The same sections were examined optically for opaque and hyaline zones. For some otoliths, broken sections were examined by SEM and their internal crystalline structure described. 3. The theoretical basis for using cycles in elemental (particularly strontium) composition to interpret life history is examined. Life history information from elemental composition is compared with other information derived both from otoliths and field observations of the species involved.