Stock identification of mediterranean mullets of three wetlands in the Comunidad Valenciana using sagitta otolith morphometry

CALLICÓ FORTUNATO, R; A V .VOLPEDO; V. BENEDITO DURÀ

Palma

Simposio; 5th International Otolith Symposium 2014 (IOS2014); 2014

ICES- International Otolith Symposium Committe

In the Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea there are 8 species of the Mugilidae family. Stock identification of mugilids is poorly studied and very important for local fisheries management and regulations. The aim of this work is to identify stocks of two of the most abundant mugilid species in the Valencian Community: Mugil cephalus, a worldwide distributed species, and Liza ramada. For this, we used as a tool sagittae otoliths morphometry. Individuals of both species were sampled in three wetlands near the coast of the Valencian Community (Parque Natural Deltebre, Parque Nartural l?Albufera and Parque Natural Salinas de Santa Pola) so as to map the whole region. Total length of fish (TL) was registered and saccular otoliths were removed, dried and photographed. Using an image analysis program, different morphometric variables were measured: otolith length (OL), width (OW), perimeter (OP) and area (OA); and sulcus perimeter (SP) and area (SA). These characters were compared among the different study areas using ANOVA, with Tukey contrasts. The results showed that with the use of otolith morphometry stock identification, of these two species, could be possible; however, to confirm this it?s necessary to validate it applying other methodologies such us otolith microchemistry or geographic morphometry.