Non-lethal sampling for stable isotope analysis of pike Esox lucius: how mucus, scale and fin tissue compare to muscle

Abstract

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) was used to examine the isotopic relationships between dorsal muscle and fin, scale and epidermal mucus in pike Esox lucius. δ13C and δ15N varied predictably within each tissue pairing, with conversion factors calculated for the surrogate tissues, enabling their application to the non-lethal sampling of E. lucius for SIA.