Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
[Otolith carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in laboratory-reared Schizothorax kozlovi]
Yong Feng He1, Xing Bing Wu1, Xu Ge Wang1
1Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Abstract:
In order to investigate the role of otolith carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) stable isotopes in identification of freshwater fish stocks, otolith δ13C and δ18O of cultured Schizothorax kozlovi at different ages were measured by stable isotope mass spectrometer. The relationships between otolith δ13C / δ18O and environment were discussed. The results showed that δ13C and δ18O values of S. kozlovi at age 1+ were not significantly correlated with otolith mass, but both were significantly different between lapillus and asteriscus. The average lapillus δ13C and δ18O values of S. kozlovi at different ages were (-9.58±0.06)‰ and (-8.33±0.17)‰, respectively. There was no significant difference of lapillus δ13C and δ18O between the sexes, but with significant difference among diffe-rent ages. The correlation of δ13C with δ18O was an effective method in identification of different culture stocks of S. kozlovi, which indicated the isotopic signatures of otolith could be used as a method to identify freshwater fish stocks.
Related Concept Videos
Elements: Chemical Symbols and Isotopes
Some symbols are derived from the common English name of the element; others are abbreviations of the name in another language — Latin, Greek or German. For example, the symbol for aluminum (common name)...
Isotopes
An element's atomic mass, or weight,...
The Carbon Cycle
Carbon Skeletons
Isotopes and Radioisotopes
An isotope containing...
Mass Spectrometry: Isotope Effect

