Jonathan J. Spurgeon

U.S. Geological Survey—Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 3310 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE 68583

Comparison of Two Otolith Processing Methods for Estimating Age of Silver Carp

SEAFWA Journal Volume 11, March 2024

Accurate age estimates are critical in the development, implementation, and assessment of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) management plans. Lapilli otoliths are the most commonly used calcified structures for silver carp age estimation, but studies on the precision of two established preparation methods [i.e., grind-and-burn (GB), thin-section (TS)] are lacking. Therefore, we assessed within-reader, between-reader, and between-method precision for 125 silver carp collected from six rivers throughout the Lower Mississippi River Basin (Arkansas, Cache, Mississippi, St....