201 
National Marine 
Fisheries Service 
NOAA 
Fishery Builetin 
fy- established in 1881 -dn 
Spencer F. Baird 
First U.S. Commissioner 
of Fisheries and founder 
of Fishery Bulletin 
Stock identifkation of tainha iMugil liza} 
by analyzing stable carbon and oxygen 
isotopes in otoliths 
Email address for contact author: vavadeleom@yahoo.com.br 
Abstract —We investigated the use 
of and 5^®© stable isotopes in 
otoliths of juvenile tainha (Mugil 
liza) as indicators of the stock struc¬ 
ture of this species of mullet in the 
southern Atlantic Ocean. Our analy¬ 
sis identified 2 different spawning 
stocks along the Brazilian coast: 
the southern stock, from Sao Paulo 
(25°S) to Chui (33°S), with distinct 
seawater temperature requirements 
for spawning (18-21°C), and the 
northern stock, from Rio de Janei¬ 
ro (23°S) to the north (up to 19°S), 
spawning in seawater temperatures 
of 21-24°C. These results will con¬ 
tribute to the development of appro¬ 
priate stock management measures. 
Manuscript submitted 13 April 2016. 
Manuscript accepted 6 February 2017. 
Fish. Bull. 115:201-205 (2017). 
Online publication date: 9 March 2017. 
doi: 10.7755/FB.115.2.7 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Valeria M. Lemos (contact author)’ 
Cassiano Monteiro-Neto^ 
Henrique CabraP 
Joao P. Vieira’ 
’ Instituto de Oceanografia 
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande 
Avenida Italia km 8 
96203-900 Rio Grande 
Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil 
^ Departamento de Biologia Marinha 
Centro de Estudos Gerais 
Universidade Federal Fluminense 
Outeiro de Sao Joao Batista, s/n 
Campus do Valonguinho Centro 
24001-970 Niteroi 
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 
® Marine and Environmental Science Centre 
Departamento de Biologia Animal 
Universidade de Lisboa 
Rua Ernesto de Vasconcelos 
1749-016 Campo Grande 
Lisboa, Portugal 
The tainha {Mugil liza), also known 
as liza (ITIS, website), is distributed 
along the coast of South America, 
from the Caribbean Sea to Argentina 
(Menezes et ah, 2010). The artisanal 
fisheries for tainha are culturally 
and historically important along the 
southern and southeastern coasts 
of Brazil (Vieira, 1991; CEPSUL’). 
Since the early 2000s, this resource 
also has been exploited heavily by 
the Brazilian industrial purse-seine 
fishery during the reproductive 
spawning migration of this species 
’ CEPSUL (Centro de Pesquisa e Ges- 
tao dos Recursos Pesqueiros do Litoral 
Sudeste e Sul). 2007. I relatorio de 
reuniao tecnica para o ordenamento da 
pesca da tainha {Mugil platanus, M. 
liza) na regiao sudeste/sul do Brasil, 67 
p. CEPSUL, Itajai, Brazil. [Available 
from website.] 
(Lemos et ah, 2014, 2016) because 
of the high value of its roe, which 
is considered a delicacy analogous 
to caviar (CEPSUL’). More recently, 
strong signs of a decline in numbers 
have been observed for this spe¬ 
cies, and, since 2004, tainha have 
been ranked as overexploited (MPA/ 
MMA^). The management plan for 
this species of mullet (MPA/MMA^) 
is not effective because of a total 
lack of basic information, including 
the identification and characteriza¬ 
tion of the stock or stocks of this 
fish (Lemos et ah, 2016). 
2 MPA/MMA (Ministerio da pesca e aqui- 
cultura/Ministerio do meio ambien- 
te). 2015. Plano de gestao para o uso 
sustentavel da tainha, Mugil liza Valen¬ 
ciennes, 1836, no sudeste e sul do Bra¬ 
sil, 137 p. MPA/MMA, Brasilia, Bra¬ 
zil. [Available from website.] 
