Differentiation of Mullus Barbatus and Mullus Surmuletus (Perciformes, Mullidae) From Turkish Waters of the Mediterranean Sea Using Otolith Shape Analyses

Abstract

Red mullet ( Mullus barbatus) and surmullet ( Mullus surmuletus) are valuable components of the commercial fishery industry in the Mediterranean Sea in T & uuml;rkiye. To date, morphological and genetic characteristics have been used to distinguish these species. This study aimed to determine whether it was possible to distinguish between the two species using the morphometric features of their sagittal otoliths. Sagittal otoliths were subjected to elliptic Fourier analysis, wavelet analysis, and analysis of otolith shape indices for 117 specimens from the Mediterranean Sea coast of T & uuml;rkiye ( Mullus barbatus: 53 individuals; Mullus surmuletus: 64 individuals). Overall, canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) demonstrated strong discrimination between the two species (p < 0.05). The total classification success rate for CDA in distinguishing between the two Mullus species was 94.9% and 77.8% using wavelet and elliptic Fourier analysis, respectively. In contrast, when only otolith shape indices were compared, the classification success rate was low at 44.4% and there was no statistical difference between the two species in terms of otolith shape indices (one-way permutational multivariate analysis of variance, p > 0.05). Consequently, wavelet analysis of sagittal otolith shape appears to be the most suitable method for differentiating these two species in the Mediterranean Sea.