A comparative morphological investigation of otoliths of six parrotfish species (Scaridae) from the Solomon Islands

Abstract

A comparative morphological investigation of otoliths from six parrotfish species and two genera, Scarus and Hipposcarus, was conducted to identify taxonomically diagnostic species-specific characters. Ontogenetic trends in otolith morphology were evident: Otoliths of small-sized specimens were most like those of large-sized Scarus oviceps and were least similar to large-sized Hipposcarus longiceps. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The relationship between fish length and otolith size and weight of Acanthopagrus arabicus Iwatsuki, 2013 (Sparidae) collected from the Iraqi marine waters

“…Otoliths are considered a detailed taxonomic resources in fish species identification due to their inter-specific discrepancy [Battaglia et al 2010]. Therefore, several investigators have examined the morphology of otoliths [Smale et al 1995, Campana 2004, Lombarte et al 2006, Sadigzadeh and Tuset 2012, Jawad 2018. Additional to taxonomic objectives, otolith sizes and features such as the length, width and weight are also imperative to evaluate the size and mass of the fish being preyed upon, as often in studies on feeding ecology the only item enduring in the stomach of a predator is the otolith [Jawad et al 2011[Jawad et al , 2011a[Jawad et al , 2011b.…”

Taxonomic validation of Areolate grouper, Epinephelus areolatus(Perciformes: Serranidae) along the Nizampatnam coast, India

“…However, there were reports on the misidentification of Epinephelus areolatus as E. chlorostigma or E. bleekeri because they look similar with overlapping distributions [6,13,14]. In addition to the color pattern and morphological characteristics, the species-specific characteristics, like pyloric caeca [6,15], scales, and otoliths [16][17][18], and vertebrae [19][20][21], are proved to be more useful for the identification of species. Furthermore, the advanced molecular technique, such as DNA barcoding, helps in resolving the ambiguity at species-level identification [22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Scanning electron microscopy and morphological analysis reveal differences in the otolith morphology of three species of the family Lethrinidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) from Yemen

“…Numerous characteristics of the sagittal otolith also help in taxonomic investigations (Figure 2), with some recognized as early as the beginning of the 20th century (Nolf, 1985(Nolf, , 2013. The teleost sagittal otolith is the most extensively used anatomical character in proportional taxonomic investigations, due to its large size and degree of inter-specific disparity (Jawad, 2007(Jawad, , 2018. In this study, we inspect a variety of otolith features, of which some are taxonomically useful for the identification at the species level.…”

“…Taxonomic studies in ichthyology use numerous morphological characteristics, derived from a.o. hard parts such as otoliths, scales, and bones, to identify species (see, e.g., Avigliano et al, 2016;Battaglia et al, 2015;Jawad, 2018;Jawad et al, 2017Jawad et al, , 2018Tuset et al, 2003). Otoliths or "ear stones" are three solid calcareous structures considered unique among vertebrates.…”