Morphologic and morphometric analysis and growth rings identification of otoliths: Sagitta, asteriscus and lapillus of Caranx caballus (Pisces: Carangidae) in the Coast of Colima, Mexico

Abstract

This study is a description and morphometric analysis of the otoliths sagittae, asterisci and lapilli of the green jack Caranx caballus (Günther, 1869) in the tropical Mexican Pacific. The relationship among length, width and weight of the sagittae is expressed by the following equations: y = 0.935x 0.832 (rostrum-antirostrum), y = 0.272x1.139 (rostrum-width) and y = 0.00007x2.524 (rostrum-weight). In the case of the asterisci: y = 1.623x0.81 (length-width) and y = 0.0005x 1.657 (length-weight). For the lapilli y = 1.061x0.874 (length-width) and y = 0.0003x2.796 (length-weight). The growth of these otoliths was also related to the length of the fish. The average length was calculated for each of the four growth rings identified in the sagittae and the asterisci; the results are: 1 = 16.82 cm, 2 = 27.78 cm, 3 = 34.66 cm and 4 = 40.27 cm. © 2006 Academic Journals Inc.