On Friday, my father and I will be going fishing in order to have a fish to practice extracting otoliths on. Most likely the fish we catch will be a redfish for not only an easy catch , but also a more ethical one. I found that through the process of my project I have been dreading the day where I will have to dig through the lion fish head in order to extract its otoliths, hence the delay in extraction and more of a focus on research. In catching a redfish, its life will not have been wasted. It will be used for scientific practice as well as food as will the lion fish.
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| Future of the lion fish |
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| Future of the redfish |
My goal in extracting the otoliths of the lion fish in the near future will be to measure its age based on the rings in the otolith due to the chemistry of the water in which they swim. This project will just be dealing with the otoliths of lion fish and will answer the questions:
What is an otolith?
Do all fish have otoliths?
What are otoliths used for?
What can otoliths be compared to?
Where are lion fish from natively?
How did lion fish come to be in the Atlantic Ocean?
What do lion fish eat and how do the otoliths of their prey compare to that of the lionfish?
How long have lion fish been in the Atlantic Ocean?
How long can lion fish be expected to stay around?
MORE TO COME FRIDAY AFTER FISHING (:
I am curious to see the size of a redfish otolith being that they feed off of the bottom. Have you decided how you are going to measure the rings and chemistry of the otoliths?
ReplyDeleteI have two questions...first--about the 'future of the redfish'...if there are any leftovers, may I have it? (LOL--yummy!). And--are you going to be able to get a lionfish otolith?
ReplyDeleteDo you suspect a huge difference in otolith sizes of these two fishes?
ReplyDelete