Morphologic and morphometric comparisons of Smsagittal otoliths of five Scorpaena species in the Sea of Marmara, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea and Black Sea

Abstract

The morphology and morphometry of the sagittal otolith were compared for five Scorpaena species from the Sea of Marmara, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and Black Sea. A total of 1700 specimens belonging to S. elongata (n = 300, TL = 9.2-23.6 cm), S. maderensis (n = 300, TL = 8.7-16.6 cm), S. notata (n = 400, TL = 9.5-22.9 cm), S. porcus (n = 400, TL = 8.4-25.1 cm), and S. scrofa (n = 300, TL = 9.5-33.4 cm) were collected during the 2019-2020 fishing season from the eight locations such as Antalya, Balikesir, canakkale, Hatay, Izmir, Marmara Ereglisi, Ordu and ?ile in the four seas. 18 morphological and 10 morphometric otolith characters (for left and right sides) were compared in the five Scorpaena species (with male and female samples) from seventeen populations in the four seas. It was determined that the morphometric otolith characters examined in the study showed statistical differences between the Scorpaena species(P < 0.05). Among the morphological otolith characters, the dorsal and ventral margins are the most differentiated characters in the Scorpaena species. The morphological and morphometric characters of the otolith, which are highlighted in this study, could be adequately used as diagnostic features for the identification of Scorpaena diversity. This is the first study to compare five Scorpaena species sampled from eight locations in four seas by both otolith morphology and morphometry analyses.