Relationships between Fish and Otolith Size of the Blackspot Snapper <i>Lutjanus ehrenbergii</i> (Peters, 1869) Collected from the Coast of Muscat City, Sea of Oman

Abstract

In studies of prey-predator relationships, population dynamics and ichthyo-archaeology, the fish otoliths are commonly used to decide taxon, age and size of the teleost fishes. They can also be used to calculate the size of the prey. The relationships between otolith measurements (length and width) and fish body proportions (head, total and standard lengths) were estimated for blackspot snapper Lutjanus ehrenbergii collected from the Oman's Sea, at Muscat City. Otolith length and width was shown to be good indicators for the length of fish. Linear function offered the best fit for relations between otolith and fish body proportions. Sizes of the left and right otoliths were found not be significantly different.

Age and growth rates at the early life stages of common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) based on analysis of otolith microstructure

“…Morphometric characteristics of the sagittal otoliths of YOY common pandora were linearly related to the logarithm of fish TL. Our results are consistent with those of other studies and indicate that the relationships between fish TL and otolith morphometric measurements are usually log linear (Ayyildiz et al, 2014;Dehghani et al, 2016;Al-Busaidi et al, 2017). However, according to Lleonart et al (2000), the linear model is not appropriate because it cannot detect changes in the shape of otoliths.…”

Otolith fluctuating asymmetry inBoops boops(Actinopterygii, Sparidae) from two marine stations (Bizerte and Kelibia) in Tunisian waters

“…Similarly Jawad (2012) and Jawad et al (2012a) in Sardinella sindensis and Sillago sihama collected from the Persian Gulf near Bandar Abbas and Jawad et al (2020) in Sarotherodon melanotheron and Coptodon guineensis examined from Lake Ahémé and Porto-Novo Lagoon, Bénin, found the same results, except that a trend of increase in the value of asymmetry with fish length has been observed in the otolith width only. However, Al-Busaidi et al (2017) reported that both the length and width measurements of the otolith estimated from L. ehrenbergii in the Sea of Oman at Muscat City are good indicators for fish length and there is symmetry between the left and right otoliths. In addition, Kontaş et al (2018) investigated the fluctuating asymmetry of the otolith area, length, perimeter and width in four groups of Merlangius merlangus collected from the Middle Black Sea and declared that the otolith area had the highest asymmetry, while the length had the lowest.…”

“…However, Al-Busaidi et al . (2017) reported that both the length and width measurements of the otolith estimated from L . ehrenbergii in the Sea of Oman at Muscat City are good indicators for fish length and there is symmetry between the left and right otoliths.…”

“…During the last decades, study of the morphological characteristics of otoliths, in particular their shape, length, width, area, thickness and weight, has been used to test both genetic and environmental stressors and as a bioindicator to test the differentiation of populations and the variance in stock discrimination studies using Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) (Valentine et al, 1973;Campana & Casselman, 1993;Begg & Waldman, 1999;Torres et al, 2000;Smith et al, 2002;Panfili et al, 2005;Turan, 2006;Jawad et al, 2010Jawad et al, , 2011Jawad et al, , 2012aJawad et al, , 2012bJawad et al, , 2012cJawad et al, , 2016Jawad et al, , 2020Vignon & Morat, 2010;Cañás et al, 2012;Jawad, 2012Jawad, , 2013Lord et al, 2012;Treinen-Crespo et al, 2012;Mahe et al, 2014;Trojette et al, 2014Trojette et al, , 2015Abu El-Regal et al, 2016;Brophy et al, 2016;Hüssy et al, 2016;Rebaya et al, 2016Rebaya et al, , 2017Al-Busaidi et al, 2017;Fatnassi et al, 2017;Ider et al, 2017;Khedher et al, 2017;Rodgveller et al, 2017;Chakour & Elouizgani, 2018;Khemiri et al, 2018;Kontaş et al, 2018;Mejri et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018;…”

“…During the last decades, study of the morphological characteristics of otoliths, in particular their shape, length, width, area, thickness and weight, has been used to test both genetic and environmental stressors and as a bioindicator to test the differentiation of populations and the variance in stock discrimination studies using Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) (Valentine et al ., 1973; Campana & Casselman, 1993; Begg & Waldman, 1999; Torres et al ., 2000; Smith et al ., 2002; Panfili et al ., 2005; Turan, 2006; Jawad et al ., 2010, 2011, 2012 a , 2012 b , 2012 c , 2016, 2020; Vignon & Morat, 2010; Cañás et al ., 2012; Jawad, 2012, 2013; Lord et al ., 2012; Treinen-Crespo et al ., 2012; Mahe et al ., 2014; Trojette et al ., 2014, 2015; Abu El-Regal et al ., 2016; Brophy et al ., 2016; Hüssy et al ., 2016; Rebaya et al ., 2016, 2017; Al-Busaidi et al ., 2017; Fatnassi et al ., 2017; Ider et al ., 2017; Khedher et al ., 2017; Rodgveller et al ., 2017; Chakour & Elouizgani, 2018; Khemiri et al ., 2018; Kontaş et al ., 2018; Mejri et al ., 2018; 2020; Wang et al ., 2018; Ben Mohamed et al ., 2019; Fashandi et al ., 2019; Jmil et al ., 2019; Mahé et al ., 2019; Puentes et al ., 2019; Osman et al ., 2020). Indeed, these studies have shown that the otolith shape is species-specific (Sadighzadeh et al ., 2014) and that variability in the otolith shape, structure and development is influenced by ontogenetic, genetic and environmental factors (Campana & Casselman, 1993; Cardinale et al ., 2004; Vignon & Morat, 2010; Vignon, 2015; Hüssy et al ., 2016; Ider et al ., 2017; Fashandi et al ., 2019), as well as by sex, growth, maturity and pattern of fishery exploitation (Begg & Brown, 2000), or by individual characteristics, e.g.…”