Incremental growth and mineralogy of Pannonian (Late Miocene) sciaenid otoliths: paleoecological implications

Abstract

Ontogenetic age and body dimensions were studied on three extremely well-preserved sciaenid fish otoliths from sublittoral marls of Lake Pannon from Doba, Bakony Mts, Hungary. Macroscopic and microscopic observations offered clear evidence for the preservation of the genuine structural characteristics, for instance the bipartite incremental features. Ontogenetic ages were assigned for the three specimens as 16, 7 and 6 years by counting the annuli of the sagittae. Analytical results prove that the original aragonitic mineralogy has been preserved making them, and probably other Late Miocene teleost fossils, suitable for future microchemical analysis to reconstruct the past physicochemical environment