title: Otolith patterns of rockfishes from the northeastern Pacific.
abstract: Sagitta otolith shape was analysed in twenty sympatric rockfishes off the southern California coast (Northeastern Pacific). The variation in shape was quantified using canonical variate analysis based on fifth wavelet function decomposition of otolith contour. We selected wavelets because this representation allow the identifications of zones or single morphological points along the contour. The entire otoliths along with four subsections (anterior, ventral, posterodorsal, and anterodorsal) with morphological meaning were examined. Multivariate analyses (MANOVA) showed significant differences in the contours of whole otolith morphology and corresponding subsection among rockfishes. Four patterns were found: fusiform, oblong, and two types of elliptic. A redundancy analysis indicated that anterior and anterodorsal subsections contribute most to define the entire otolith shape. Complementarily, the eco-morphological study indicated that the depth distribution and strategies for capture prey were correlated to otolith shape, especially with the anterodorsal zone.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Marítim 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Victor M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Tuset
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Imondi
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aguado
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Otero-Ferrer
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santschi
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lombarte
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Love
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001492:Bass / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002140:California; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008853:Microscopy; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010037:Otolithic Membrane / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
keywords: Northeastern Pacific; Sebastes; ecology; morphology; otolith; wavelet