Trace elements in the otoliths and dorsal spines of albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga, Bonnaterre, 1788): An assessment of the effectiveness of cleaning procedures at removing postmortem contamination

► Otoliths are susceptible to postmortem contamination. ► Nitric acid is an effective cleaning agent but may cause unwanted physical degradation of sample. ► Microchemical analysis of dorsal spines of albacore is not recommended as a proxy for otoliths.