VARIABILITY OF OTOLITH MORPHOLOGY AND MORPHOMETRY IN EIGHT JUVENILE FISH SPECIES IN THE COASTAL EASTERN ADRIATIC

Sagitalni otoliti nedoraslih stadija osam vrsta riba: Boops boops, Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus puntazzo, Sarpa salpa (porodica Sparidae), Liza ramada, Liza aurata (porodica Mugilidae), Atherina boyeri, Atherina hepsetus (porodica Atherinidae) su analizirani i međusobno uspoređeni opisnim morfološkim značajkama te morfometrijskim mjerama. Uočljive razlike među otolitima istraživanih vrsta odnose se na njihov oblik, rub (npr. nepravilan, valovit, pilast) i prednji dio. Oblik otolita je elipsast do pentagonalan kod sparidnih vrsta, elipsast do pravokutan kod cipla te elipsast kod dvije vrste gavuna. Omjeri širine i dužine otolita (OW/OL), zatim dužine caude i sulcusa (CL/SL) te dužine ostiuma i sulcusa (OSL/SL) su određeni za svaku vrstu. Obris otolita je analiziran Wavelet transformacijom. Analiza glavnih komponenata ukazala je na međusobne razlike u obliku otolita među nedoraslim stadijima osam analiziranih vrsta. Korištenjem Wavelet koeficijenata, prvom komponentom objašnjeno je 58,1% varijacije među vrstama, a drugom komponentom 25,2%.Sagittae otoliths of eight juvenile species: Boops boops, Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus puntazzo, Sarpa salpa (family Sparidae), Liza ramada, Liza aurata (family Mugilidae), Atherina boyeri, Atherina hepsetus (family Atherinidae) were analysed and compared using descriptive morphological characters and morphometric indices. The noticeable differences among the otoliths of the investigated species are in their overall shape, margins (i.e. irregular, sinuate or crenate) and anterior region. Otolith shape varied from elliptic to pentagonal in sparids, elliptic to rectangular in mugilids and elliptic in two atherinids. Aspect ratio (OW/OL), ratio of the sulcus length occupied by the cauda length (CL/SL) and ratio of the sulcus length occupied by the ostium length (OSL/SL) were calculated for all species. The otolith contour was described using wavelets. The Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates (CAP) gave an overview of the otolith shape differentiation between eight juveniles. Using the Wavelet coefficients, the first principal component (CAP1) explained 58.1% of the variation among species and the second principal component (CAP2) 25.2%