Evaluation of copper, iron and lead substitution techniques in elasmobranch age determination

Abstract

Copper and lead substitution reactions were found to be useful in demonstrating growth patterns in vertebrae from several elasmobranch species. In contrast, iron substitution was ineffective in detecting variations in vertebral mineralization. The present study provides two alternative methods for elasmobranch age determination that may prove useful when traditional methods are deemed ineffective. However, species-specific variations in the efficiency of these methods re-emphasize the observation that different types of vertebrae often require different methods of staining.