Lough et al. 1982; Neilson and Geen 1982). It is 

 therefore desirable to examine the rate of increment 

 formation under various conditions before using 

 otoliths for age determination (Brothers 1979). The 

 technique presented here is a tool for studying incre- 

 ment formation in otoliths of young fish under 

 laboratory and possibly field conditions. It can be 

 used for reef and nearshore benthic species which 

 can be captured while larvae or juveniles and kept in 

 containers or enclosures. 



Acknowledgments 



I want to thank Jeffrey M. Leis, Keith A. McGuin- 

 ness, Richard Methot, Jr., Peter F. Sale, and two 

 anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on 

 early drafts of the manuscript. I am grateful to J. M. 

 Leis for the initial suggestion which led to this work, 

 and to Peter Clarke for assistance with fluo- 

 rescence microscopy. 



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