Somatic morphology and otolith shape were used to discriminate four samples of Atherina boyeri from three different habitats: Mellah lagoon (n = 269), Annaba Gulf (144 punctuated and 194 unpunctuated individuals) and Ziama inlet (n = 147) in eastern Algeria. For each individual, somatic morphology was described with 13 metrics and eight meristic measurements, while the otolith contour shape of 452 individuals from the three habitats was analysed using Fourier analysis. Then, two discriminant analyses, one using the 13 metric measurements and the other using Fourier descriptors, were used in order to discriminate populations of A. boyeri. The results of the discriminant analyses based on the two methods were similar, and showed that this species could be discriminated into three distinct groups: (1) marine punctuated, (2) lagoon and marine unpunctuated and (3) estuarine. These results are consolidated by the comparison of the Mayr, Linsley and Usinger coefficient of difference for the meristic parameters according to the location origin, where the difference reached a racial or even sub-specific level for some characters, depending on which pairs of populations were compared.

This aim of this paper was the study of the reproductive biology and growth of the sand smelt, Atherina boyeri, in Mellah Lagoon (Algeria). These data are important for the sustainable exploitation of the stocks of this species. Examined was a total of 1402 Atherina boyeri specimens captured monthly from March 2010 to March 2011, in a population with a 3-year life cycle. Length-weight relationship was estimated as W = 0.0047 L 3.077 (r 2 = 0.935) for males and W = 0.0047 L 3.176 (r 2 = 0.935) for females. Using scales, the von Bertalanffy growth function fitted to back-calculated size-at-age data was Lt = 9.49 [1 À e À0.316 (t + 0.928) ] for males, and Lt = 11.67 [1 À e À0.179 (t + 1.514) ] for females; using otoliths this was Lt = 9.68 [1 À e À0.3 (t + 1.02) ] for males, and Lt = 11.93 [1 À e À0.171 (t + 1.55) ] for females. The growth performance index (Φ) indicated that males (Φ scales = 3.34, Φ otoliths = 3.33) grew at the same rate as females (Φ scales = 3.19, Φ otoliths = 3.24), with a sex ratio of 1 : 1.6 in favor of females. The reproductive season extended from February to June. Individual length at first sexual maturity was 4.20 cm for 1-year-old males and 4.35 cm for 1-year-old females.

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