Starting the OtoLIBS Project: Our visit to IESL-FORTH in Crete

The team working with the LIBS system at the IESL lab. (left to right: Maria Eleni Konstantinou, Danai Theodoraki, Aggelos Philippidis, Rosa Arniz-Mateos, Panagiotis Siozos, Victor Piñón, Demetrios Anglos, Niklas Hausmann).

During our two-week visit, we had the opportunity to collaborate with the Photonics for Heritage Science (PhoHS) group as part of the new OtoLIBS project (Otoliths analysis using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy).

The OtoLIBS project aims to enhance the understanding of fish populations, migration patterns, and environmental conditions by applying LIBS. For this purpose, we analysed modern and archaeological otolith samples (“earstones”), which are calcium carbonate structures located in the inner ear of fishes, supporting essential functions such as balance and predator evasion.

The detection of elements such as Sr, Ba, Mn, Zn, and Mg, whose concentrations are influenced by environmental conditions, as well as other elements that could help distinguish otolith fingerprints associated with habitat connectivity, migratory patterns, and physiological variations among fish species.

This is an example of the results obtained so far of Sr/Ca ratios from a modern salmon otolith by LA-ICP-MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) and LIBS.

We are excited about the potential insights this first approach may provide into the ecological dynamics of fish populations!

Acknowledgements

The project is funded by the Programme for the Promotion of the Exchange and Scientific Co-operation between Greece and Germany IKYDA 2024. We would like to thank our collaborators: Malte Willmes (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Norway), Anna M. Sturrock (School of Life Sciences, United Kingdom) and Rachel C. Johnson (National Marine Fisheries Service, USA) for their contributions to the development of the LIBS method for otolith analyses.