Natal homing in a marine fish metapopulation
Abstract
Identifying natal origins of marine fishes is challenging because of difficulties in conducting mark-recapture studies in marine systems. We used natural geochemical signatures in otoliths (ear bones) to determine natal sources in weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), an estuarine-spawning marine fish, in eastern North America. Spawning site fidelity ranged from 60 to 81%, comparable to estimates of natal homing in birds and anadromous fishes. These data were in contrast to genetic analyses of population structure in weakfish. Our findings highlight the need for consideration of spatial processes in fisheries models and have implications for the design of marine reserves in coastal regions.
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Fish can navigate thousands of kilometres to reach the exact same site in which they were born (natal homing) or had previously spawned (repeated homing).
“Fish can navigate thousands of kilometres to reach the exact same site in which they were born (natal homing, Cury, 1994;Thorrold et al., 2001) or had previously spawned (repeated homing, Corten, 2002;Skjæraasen et al., 2011).”
From Evolutionary and ecological constraints of fish spawning habitats (2015) · cites this paper as Thorrold et al., 2001
Fish spawning in specific locales have been observed to repeat spawning there.
“Fish spawning in specific locales have been observed to repeat spawning there.”
From Evolutionary and ecological constraints of fish spawning habitats (2015) · cites this paper as Thorrold et al., 2001
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Larval Dispersal and Marine Population Connectivity
Cowen, R. K., & Sponaugle, S. (2009) · Annual Review of Marine Science · doi:10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163757 · Cited by 2,077 · see citing works
Evolutionary and ecological constraints of fish spawning habitats
Ciannelli, L., Bailey, K., & Olsen, E. M. (2015) · ICES Journal of Marine Science · doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsu145 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
- Authors
- Thorrold, S. R., Latkoczy, C., Swart, P. K., & Jones, C. M.
- Affiliations
- Department of Biological Sciences,
- Old Dominion University (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Corresponding author
- Thorrold, Simon R.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2001-01-12
- Volume
- 291
- Issue
- 5502
- Pages
- 297-299
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2156697710
- Cited by
- 670
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 22.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- natal homing, weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, otolith microchemistry, spawning site fidelity, metapopulation, population structure, marine reserve design, natal origin
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Elements, Female, Homing Behavior, Isotopes, Otolithic Membrane, Perciformes, Population Dynamics, Probability, Reproduction, Seawater, United States, Discriminant Analysis
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