Morphometric and meristic differences between shallow- and deep-water populations of white hake (Urophycis tenuis) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Abstract

Linear discriminant function analysis of morphometric and meristic characters was used to assess the extent of differentiation between shallow- (<100 m) and deep- (>200 m) water populations of white hake (Urophycis tenuis) from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (NAFO Division 4T). Although meristic characters provided some evidence for stock separation, the best statistical separation was obtained with morphometric characters. Morphometric discriminant functions derived from "learning" samples were able to correctly classify 82 and 84% of the "test" samples for both females and males, respectively. A greater relative snout length in fish sampled from along the Laurentian Channel compared with those from the Northumberland Strait area was the primary discriminating character for both sexes. Our morphological evidence and previous tagging and distributional studies suggest that the populations from these two areas represent separate stocks; therefore, the traditional management unit for white hake in NAFO Division 4T may no longer be appropriate.