2016 Volume 64 Issue 3 Pages 333-338
The isotopic variations in the populations of the Japanese anchovy, Engraulis japonicus, in three sea areas of the eastern Seto Inland Sea were examined. The carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for Japanese anchovy differed among the sea areas. The results showed much greater isotopic variations in the populations in Harima-Nada and Kii Channel than Osaka Bay. Moreover, clustering analysis showed that the populations in Kii Channel and Harima-Nada consisted of two sub-groups that are isotopically different, suggesting that the populations consist of groups of different feeding history. The spatial isotopic variations of the anchovies in our results may help us to understand the migration behavior of the Japanese anchovy in the eastern Seto Inland Sea.