Application of otolith morphometry for the study of ontogenetic variations of Odontesthes argentinensis

FERNANDA G. BIOLÉ; ROBERTA CALLICO FORTUNATO; GUSTAVO A. THOMPSON; ALEJANDRA VOLPEDO

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019 vol. 102 p. 1301 - 1310

0378-1909

The study of otolith morphometry is a tool widely used in numerous studies of fish populations (fish stocks, taxonomic, ecological, ontogeny, among others). The aim of this study was to detect ontogenetic variations in the otolith of Odontesthes argentinensis through the application of traditional and geometric morphometry and the association of these variations with ecological and trophic habits of the species. Fish (52 to 360 mm TL) were collected seasonally between years 2013?2016 in the southwest coast of the Atlantic Ocean (36°39?30.96?S - 56°40?40.09?W). Otolith shape indices (circularity, rectangularity, aspect ratio and surface occupied by sulcus) and Fourier descriptors were measured and compared through ontogenetic stages (I, II and III). The three stages analysed in the present study were differentiated by both traditional and geometric morphometry. The four analysed indices showed significant differences between stages (ANOVA Kruskal Wallis test, P