Morphometric Analyses of Phenotypic Plasticity in Habitat Use in Two Caspian Sea Mullets

Abstract

To understand the functional meaning of morphological traits in the exploitation of natural resources, it is necessary to develop a quantitative, meaningful scheme for understanding ecophenotypes; this will facilitate management and conservation, which are the most pressing challenges in vulnerable aquatic environments. In this context, the management of cryptic and very similar species is more challenging, because of the difficulty of distinguishing them and determining their frequency in sympatry, even though they do not necessarily have the same ecologies. As such, in order to understand how morphological similarities are associated with their ecology, thirteen morphometric characteristics related to body landmark-based geometric morphometries, sagittal otolith morphology, and shape were examined in mature Chelon auratus and Chelon saliens, which were collected from the coastal waters of the southwest Caspian Sea between October 2020 and April 2021. Univariate and multivariate analysis of variance were conducted to evaluate the potential morphological differences between the species. The analyses highlight the morphological differences between C. auratus and C. saliens, and identify potentially helpful traits for using body and otolith shape for the interspecific distinction of these very similar species of Caspian mullet, which can reflect functional similarity and are an important component of community ecology.

Morphological characteristic and truss morphometric analysis of amphidromous goby (‘nike') (Teleostei: Gobiiformes) in Bone River, Gorontalo, Indonesia

“…Conducting a thorough analysis allows for the identification of these differences, forming the basis for employing truss morphometric techniques. Various studies have been conducted that apply the use of morphometry and morphology as differentiators in fish (Kitano et al 2007;Uba 2019;Bakhshalizadeh et al 2022;Yurtseva and Uspenskiy 2022), however the use of similar methods to differentiate males and females has been reported in this research. In the future, it is important to combine this study results with tracing genetic aspects to gain confirmation of genetic variations that could influence the phenotypic characteristics of amphidromous goby fish due to the dynamics of the habitat they experience.…”