ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF JAW CARTILAGE OF GUMMY SHARK MUSTELUS-ANTARCTICUS GUNTHER

The elemental composition of jaw cartilage of gummy shark. Mustelus an tarcticus, from three locations on the Western Australian coast, was m easured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (IC P-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Cano nical variate (discriminant) analyses of the concentrations of 16 elem ents (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Pb, S, Sr, and Zn) showed the pattern of concentrations to be specific to the location of capture of the fish. Correlations between various elemental concentra tions are discussed in terms of changes that occur as the fish ages/gr ows and the cartilage calcifies. This preliminary study demonstrated t hat it might be possible to use elemental composition (fingerprints) o f shark cartilage to delineate populations for fisheries management pu rposes, but it will be necessary to show that the location differences persist through time.