Does otolith macrostructure record environmental or biological events? The case of black hake (Merluccius polli and Merluccius senegalensis)
Authors
Rey-Sanz, J. (Javier); Fernández-Peralta, L. (Lourdes); Esteban-Acón, A. (Antonio); García-Cancela, R. (Ramón); Salmerón, F. (Francisca); Puerto-González, M.Á. (Miguel Ángel); Piñeiro-Álvarez, C.G. (Carmen Gloria)Date
2012Type
research articleAbstract
Fish age determination using otoliths requires a prior understanding of growth mark deposition patterns (translucent rings, TR) as well as their connection with internal or external events experienced by the fish. This study analysed the macrostructural seasonal ring deposition pattern observed in transversal sections of black hake otoliths. A total of 793 black hake otoliths were collected in autumn and spring 2007 from research and commercial surveys carried out in continental and shelf waters off Mauritania. Most of the Merluccius polli otoliths presented narrow and wide translucent rings (NTR and WTR, respectively) regardless of fish size, whereas Merluccius senegalensis otoliths only showed NTR. This seemed to be a sign of ontogenetic discrepancy between the two black hake species, whose otoliths confirmed the existence of significant differences in their growth patterns.
The frequency distributions of the number of TR counted along the ventral radius (VR) of the otolith from the ...