March Virginia Tech KTU Exhibit- "Exploring When to say Happy Birthday to a Fish"

All living things including fish, insects, amphibians, and even trees grow old and age just like you. Think about if you did not know when your birthday was.  How would you know your age? You might guess you are between 8-12 years of age, but would you know for sure? We face the same problem when aging other living things.  How do we know how old animals are if we do not know their birthdays?  

You might ask why we would care about the age of fish, trees, or even you. Well, it helps us understand animls are growing faster or slower than expected, which helps us determine if enough food is available. Knowing a fish’s age helps us know if there is disease, pollution, or too many fish and not enough food occurring in a lake or river. One way we age fish is looking at a bone called the “otolith”, which is found in fishes’ inner ears. By counting rings on the otolith much like counting rings on a tree, we can determine what year the fish was born, which could help us answer many questions about the health of the fish community.
During this hands-on learning experience, you will learn to identify certain fish species and to verify their ages by looking at otoliths and other structures.

Hosted by: Bonnie Myers/Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation

I am a Master's student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation studying variations in community fish production along a temperature gradient.  My project focuses on possible effects of climate change on fish communities. I along with a couple undergraduate students in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation will be conducting this hands-on experience.  We are dedicated to the conservation and management of fisheries in the U.S. and beyond. We are also aiming to educate the public and future scientists in the making in understanding the importance of maintaining healthy lakes and streams and tools that help fisheries scientists address these concerns.

Bonnie is a recipient of the KTU Undergraduate/Graduate Student Research Connections  grant.