Scales and otoliths are routinely collected in the Burrishoole catchment within the permanent fish traps as part of the ongoing LTER (long term ecological research) program of monitoring. Scales and otoliths can be indicative of fish growth. Furthermore, scales and otoliths may be used for genetic research, and microchemistry studies involving habitat usage. This dataset holds a vast collection of fish scale and otolith samples from 1928-2020, from sampling locations within Burrishoole, and throughout Ireland.
The collection holds samples from species such as:
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)
Brown trout (Salmo trutta L.)
European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.)
Pollack (Pollachius pollachius L.)
Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.)
Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus L.)