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STABLE ISOTOPE SIGNATURES OF MUCUS OF STEELHEAD TROUT IN A CONTROLLED DIET SWITCH EXPERIMENT
Citation:
CHURCH, M., J. L. EBERSOLE, K. RENSMEYER, D. G. NOAKES, R. B. COUTURE, F. T. BARROWS, AND P. J. WIGINGTON JR. STABLE ISOTOPE SIGNATURES OF MUCUS OF STEELHEAD TROUT IN A CONTROLLED DIET SWITCH EXPERIMENT. Presented at American Fisheries Society, San Francisco, CA, September 02 - 06, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
Our work has shown that fish mucus can serve as a very rapid indicator of diet switching in fish. We performed diet switching studies of steelhead trout in a controlled hatchery setting using specially formulated low delta 15N signature and high delta 15N signature diets. To our knowledge, these are the first such controlled feeding studies of changes in isotopic signatures of fish mucus. Our work demonstrates and quantifies the rapidity of changes in mucus signatures (combined maximum half life of 13 days) as compared to muscle (even at very rapid growth rates) and quantifies for the first time the isotopic fractionation of delta 15N (1.4 per mil) between muscle and mucus.
Description:
Our work has shown that fish mucus can serve as a very rapid indicator of diet switching in fish. We performed diet switching studies of steelhead trout in a controlled hatchery setting using specially formulated low delta 15N signature and high delta 15N signature diets. To our knowledge, these are the first such controlled feeding studies of changes in isotopic signatures of fish mucus. Our work demonstrates and quantifies the rapidity of changes in mucus signatures (combined maximum half life of 13 days) as compared to muscle (even at very rapid growth rates) and quantifies for the first time the isotopic fractionation of delta 15N (1.4 per mil) between muscle and mucus.