Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) growth chronologies

We used annual increments in the pectoral fin rays of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) to assess growth synchrony. We based our decision criteria on correlation among individual chronologies developed from samples collected in the Saskatchewan River, Saskatchewan, and Lake St. Clair and the Mattagami River, Ontario. Initially, correlations among chronologies were not significant within these three populations. However, as mean ageing error was reduced, correlations among chronologies increased to significant levels in samples from the Saskatchewan River and Lake St. Clair. Correlations were not significant among consistently aged fish sampled from the Mattagami River. We conclude that interannual growth variation in lake sturgeon is influenced by population-wide extrinsic factors in some populations. Our results suggest that both growth synchrony and ageing error should be quantified during the construction of growth chronologies for all organisms.