Notes: Age Discrimination and Statolith Diversity in Sea Lamprey from Streams with Varying Alkalinity

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Abstract
The diversity of statoliths and changes in statolith length were examined in larval and metamorphosing sea lampreys Petromyzon marinas from four streams in Ontario. In midsummer, increases in statolith lengths were similarly and positively correlated with larval total lengths in the four streams. Statoliths from larval and metamorphosing lampreys collected from Lynde and Farewell creeks in June and September displayed typical alternating opaque and translucent bands. The number of opaque bands, or annuli, provided reliable age estimates when compared with length-frequency distributions. In July and September, statoliths from some larval and metamorphosing lampreys collected from West Root River and Cannon Creek were either absent or did not have typical bands, hence they did not always provide reliable ages. The diversity of statoliths appears to be related to ambient calcium ion concentrations, especially during periods of rapid larval growth. The use of statoliths is sometimes the only method t...

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