Abstract
Otoliths are widely used in stomach content analysis in fisheries biology, other than age determination or ichthyo-archeological studies, because they have species specific morphological features. It is possible determine size and species of the prey fishes in the digestive system of the piscivorous aquatic predators. In this study, the relationships were calculated between sagittal otolith measurements (otolith length (OL), height (OH) and weight (OW)) and fish size (length (TL), weight (W)) in painted comber Serranus scriba (Linnaeus, 1758) specimens (N=763, 68–241 mm in TL and 3.66–228.72 g). Fish specimens captured via bottom trawl vessels from off the Güllük Bay (Southern Aegean Sea) between January and December 2013. Regression equations were calculated as follows: TL= 20.11*OL+40.28, TL= 44.07*OH+50.24, TL= 969.1*OW0.410, W= 1.212*OL2.194, W= 11.16*OH1.850, W= 5913*OW–12.22, OH= 0.218*OL+1.213, OW= 0.00045*OL1.843, OW= 0.002*OH1.672. Calculated regressions were displayed a high coefficient of determinations ranging between 0.822 - 0.892. Otolith length (R2= 0.890) is the best indicator of the prediction of the fish length by examining the regression coefficients for S. scriba.
Highlights
Otolith biometry in fish biology studies are used such as the anatomy of species, identifying new species, systematic revision of a fish taxa, determination of phylogenetic relations, ecomorphological studies, determination of relations fish and otolith growth (Tuset et al, 2008)
Tuset et al (2003b) were investigated variations in the morphology of sagittal otoliths of S. atricauda, S. cabrilla and S. scriba from the Canary Islands but they did not give any data about the equations between otolith and fish
The otolith gross morphology was similar among species, S. scriba was distinct in having a rostrum which had a slight turning at the tip and a more funnel-like ostium
Summary
Otolith biometry in fish biology studies are used such as the anatomy of species, identifying new species, systematic revision of a fish taxa, determination of phylogenetic relations, ecomorphological studies, determination of relations fish and otolith growth (Tuset et al, 2008). Studies on the morphology of sagittal otoliths or its size relationship with the body size, are very limited on the member of the genus Serranus within the range of their distribution area: Tuset et al (2003a), were studied on the shape indices to identify regional differences in otolith morphology of Serranus cabrilla in the Canary Islands (Central-eastern Atlantic) and in Alicante (West Mediterranean). Bilge & Filiz (2018) were determined the relationships in sagittal otolith biometry and body size of S. cabrilla distributed in southern Aegean Sea. The aim of this study was to examine the otolith and fish size relations of S. scriba in the southern Aegean Sea in order to provide a reliable tool for researchers studying food habits of top predators to determine the size and weight of prey fish from the length or weight of the otoliths recovered
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