©2026 Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office.This dataset describes the chemical composition of otoliths of three fish species (Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus, Southern Flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, and Atlantic Croaker Micropogonias undulatus) collected in the Matagorda Bay region of Texas in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Otoliths were sectioned and analysed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to obtain continuous core-to-edge transects of elemental variation across growth increments.
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Fish collection locations and associated information are found in an accompanying dataset for this project: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/916418.
Otolith element concentrations for each individual fish were measured at the University of Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences using laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Standard reference materials included a National Institute of Standards and Technology glass standard (NIST-612) and a United States Geological Survey microanalytical carbonate standard pressed pellet (MACS-3). Otolith element concentrations were quantified along the longest dorso-ventral axis spanning the core (i.e., hatch) to the edge (i.e,. death). The distance measurement indicates the distance of the laser spot as it progressed from the beginning of the transect near the otolith core (a distance of zero) and progressively moving outward to the outer edge of the ototlith.
Analytical methods followed the detailed methods provided in Altenritter et al. (2018) and Altenritter and Walther (2019).
The "collection locations" dataset contains information for all Fish ID numbers reported in related datasets.
Walther, B., Oster, J. (2025). Geochemical concentrations of elements measured in transects across otoliths of three Gulf of Mexico fish species collected from 2021-2023. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2025-08-11 [if applicable, indicate subset used]. doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.962569.1 [access date]
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This dataset is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
If you wish to use this dataset, it is highly recommended that you contact the original principal investigators (PI). Should the relevant PI be unavailable, please contact BCO-DMO (info@bco-dmo.org) for additional guidance. For general guidance please see the BCO-DMO Terms of Use document.