Abstract:

Otoliths are usually used to identify fish species, to estimate their age and their size. This information is useful for studies like population management, feeding habits and archaeology. The relationship between the length of a fish and the length of its otoliths is lacking for the species living in the Omani waters (Sea of Oman and the Arabian Sea coasts of Oman). Therefore, the regressions between otolith size (length and width) and fish length in the lutjanid fish, Lutjanus bengalensis from the coast of Muscat are provided. ANCOVA test showed no difference in length and width of the right and left otolith of fish. Similarly, no significant difference was observed between regressions of length and width of otolith over fish size, so a single linear regression was plotted against total length (TL) for otolith length (OL) and otolith width (OW). Analysing the morphometric relationships, we concluded that otolith length and width are good indicators of fish total length in the species studied.

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