Amphidromous life cycle of Eleotris fusca (Gobioidei: Eleotridae), a widespread species from the Indo-Pacific studied by otolith analyses

Marion I. Mennesson (1) , Hélène Tabouret (2, 1, 3) , Christophe Pécheyran (3) , Eric Feunteun (1) , Philippe Keith (1)

1 BOREA - Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques
2 MNHN - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
3 LCABIE - Laboratoire de Chimie Analytique Bio-Inorganique et Environnement

Eleotris fusca is a widespread amphidromous fish found in the Indo-Pacific area. Its life cycle is characterised by a marine pelagic larval phase allowing the species to disperse in the ocean and then to recruit to remote island rivers. In order to examine its migratory history and pelagic larval duration (PLD), otolith microchemical and microstructural analyses were undertaken on 100 specimens collected in the rivers of 4 areas: Mayotte, Reunion Island (Indian Ocean), Vanuatu and French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean). Variations of Sr:Ca ratios were observed along the otoliths using a femtosecond laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma spectrometer (fs-LA-ICP-MS). The variation of the Sr:Ca ratio allowed us to reconstruct fish migratory movements between sea water (high Sr:Ca) and freshwater (low Sr:Ca), and led us to assume that Eleotris fusca is an amphidromous species. Using microstructural analysis, we observed that the PLD depended on the sampling site. In the Pacific Ocean, the PLD is similar in Vanuatu (mean ± SD: 90 ± 19.2 days) and French Polynesia (96.2 ± 17.5 days) whereas a significant difference emerged in the Indian Ocean between Mayotte (63.3 ± 11 days) and Reunion Island (114.8 ± 21.8 days).

Keywords: Pelagic larval duration; Otolith analysis; Eleotris fusca; Amphidromy; Pelagic larval duration

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biodiversity; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biodiversity; Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Molecular biology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Ecology, environment; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Genetics; Chemical Sciences; Analytical chemistry; Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry

Marion I. Mennesson, Hélène Tabouret, Christophe Pécheyran, Eric Feunteun, Philippe Keith. Amphidromous life cycle of Eleotris fusca (Gobioidei: Eleotridae), a widespread species from the Indo-Pacific studied by otolith analyses. Cybium : Revue Internationale d’Ichtyologie, 2015, 2015 (39), pp.249-260. ⟨10.26028/cybium/2015-394-002⟩. ⟨mnhn-02310405⟩