Stable isotopes as tracers of residency for fish on inshore coral reefs

Understanding the migratory movements of fish between habitats is an important priority for fisheries management. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotopes were used to evaluate the degree of movement and residency for five fish species collected from coral reefs in Queensland, Australia. Isotope values of fish were measured and compared between slow-turnover muscle tissue and fast-turnover liver tissue, with isotopic agreement between liver and muscle generally indicating resident animals, and relatively low C isotope values in muscle indicating migrants. Three fish species, rabbitfish (Siganus fuscescens), painted sweetlips (Diagramma labiosum) and Guenther's wrasse (Pseudolabrus guentheri) showed relatively consistent carbon isotope values between muscle and liver tissue as expected for resident populations. One quarter of bream (Acanthopagrus australis) individuals showed much lower δ13C values in muscle than liver. These low values diverged from the −10 to −15‰ values of residents and were more similar to the −20‰ values of fish collected from coastal riverine habitats, the presumed migration source. Moses perch (Lutjanus russelli) also showed substantial differences between muscle and liver C isotopes for about a quarter of individuals, but the overall higher C values of these individuals indicated they may have switched diets within island habitats rather than migrating. Our results were consistent with previous studies of fish residency and indicate that measuring stable isotopes in multiple tissues provides a useful methodology for characterizing fish residency in inshore areas.