Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) growth chronologies

We used annual increments in the pectoral fin rays of lake sturgeon (Acipen ser fulvescens) to assess growth synchrony. We based our decision criteria on correlation among individual chronologies developed from samples collect ed in the Saskatchewan River, Saskatchewan, and Lake St. Clair and the Matt agami River, Ontario. Initially, correlations among chronologies were not s ignificant within these three populations. However, as mean ageing error wa s reduced, correlations among chronologies increased to significant levels in samples from the Saskatchewan River and Lake St. Clair. Correlations wer e not significant among consistently aged fish sampled from the Mattagami R iver. We conclude that interannual growth variation in lake sturgeon is inf luenced by population-wide extrinsic factors in some populations. Our resul ts suggest that both growth synchrony and ageing error should be quantified during the construction of growth chronologies for all organisms.