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Effect of temperature, ration, body size and age on sulphur isotope fractionation in fish

Lookup NU author(s): Carolyn Barnes, Professor Simon Jennings

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Abstract

Sulphur isotope analysis (Δ34S) is increasingly identified as a valuable tool for source differentiation and the determination of trophic level in food webs, but there are still many uncertainties associated with the interpretation of δ34S data. To investigate the effects of temperature, ration, body size and age on sulphur trophic fractionation (Δδ34S) in fish, we reared European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) on identical diets at 11 and 16°C at three ration levels for over 600 days. Δδ34S was between 0 and -1‰. The effect of temperature on Δδ34S was small and inconsistent, varying over the course of the experiment and depending on ration. This contrasts with temperature effects on bass Δδ 13C and Δδ15N, where Δδ 13C increases at warm temperatures while Δδ15N falls. Body size and age had a positive relationship with Δδ 34S but the relationship with size was not significant for bass that weighed >20 g. As Δδ34S is small and the range in δ34S of potential diet items can be much greater than the range in δ13C or δ15N, our results show that sulphur stable isotopes are particularly useful for source differentiation in fish. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Barnes C, Jennings S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry

Year: 2007

Volume: 21

Issue: 8

Pages: 1461-1467

Print publication date: 01/01/2007

ISSN (print): 0951-4198

ISSN (electronic): 1097-0231

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rcm.2982

DOI: 10.1002/rcm.2982

PubMed id: 17385791

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