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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
Relationships between water and paddlefish Polyodon spathula dentary elemental and stable-isotopic signatures:
L R Bock1, G W Whitledge1, B Pracheil2
1Center for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, 1125 Lincoln Drive, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6511, U.S.A.
Abstract:
The objectives of this study were to characterize relationships between water and paddlefish Polyodon spathula dentary Sr:Ca, δ18 O and stable hydrogen isotope ratio (δD) to determine the accuracy with which individual P. spathula could be assigned to their collection locations using dentary-edge Sr:Ca, δD and δ18 O. A laboratory experiment was also conducted to determine whether dentary Sr:Ca in age 0 year P. spathula would reflect shifts in water Sr:Ca to which fish were exposed. Significant linear relationships between water and dentary Sr:Ca, δD and δ18 O were observed, although the relationship between water and dentary δ18 O was weaker than those for Sr:Ca and δD. Classification success for individual fish to collection locations that differed in water Sr:Ca, δD and δ18 O ranged from 86 to 100% based on dentary-edge Sr:Ca, δD and δ18 O. Dentary Sr:Ca increased significantly in laboratory-reared age 0 year P. spathula following 4 weeks of exposure to elevated water Sr:Ca; dentary Sr:Ca of fish held in water with elevated Sr:Ca was also significantly higher than that of control fish reared in ambient laboratory water. Results indicated that P. spathula dentaries reflect water signatures for commonly-applied natural chemical markers and strongly suggest that dentary microchemistry and stable-isotopic compositions will be applicable for reconstructing P. spathula environmental history in locations where sufficient spatial differences in water chemistry occur.
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