Abstract

Objective: To compare the otoliths (ear stones) of three species [Acanthopagrus berda, Acanthopagrus latus (A. latus) and Sparidentex hasta (S. hasta)] belonging to family Sparidaeare. Methods: Fifty specimens of each species with different sizes were collected from local markets since December 2014 till March 2015. The largest pair of otolith of each specimen (sagitta) was extracted and used to discriminate the three species. Results: The results revealed that the sagittae of the three species differed from each other; the posterior was almost straight in A. latus, whereas there was a notch in Acanthopagrus berda, and in S. hasta the posterior of sagitta was regularly pointed. A positive linear relationship between total length-otolith length and body weight-otolith weight were found for the three studied species. The correlation of otolith weight with fish body weight was stronger than that of otolith length with fish total length. The form factor in A. latus was higher than the other two species so as to roundness, but for aspect ratio S. hasta had the highest ratio. Conclusions: The results suggest that otolith (sagitta) morphology of the three sparid species differed from each other, thus, sagitta can be adopted to discriminate these species, because it is species specific. Consequently, otolith morphology of these species can be used in analysis of piscivorous stomach content.

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