Efficacy of Identifying Stocked Crappies in a Tennessee Reservoir through Oxytetracycline Marking

Abstract

Oxytetracycline (OTC) immersion was used to identify black-nosed crappies, a morphological variation of black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, stocked into Normandy Reservoir, Tennessee, during fall 1997. The technique effectively marked 97% of the treated fish. Analysis of one otolith per fish by one reader successfully identified 98% of marked and unmarked fish in a blind test. Marks were formed before annulus formation and were not obscured by annulus-related autofluorescence, suggesting that OTC can be effectively used late in the year (Oct and Nov) in Tennessee.