Morphological and biometrical characterization of otoliths for three populations of the genus Pagellus in the western and eastern in Mediterranean Sea (Tunisia)

Abstract The shape of otoliths of three species of fishes of the genus Pagellus (Pagellus erythrinus, Pagellus acarne and Pagellus bogaraveo) sampled in the marine environment of the western Mediterranean (Kelibia Sea) and the eastern Mediterranean (Bizerte Sea) in Tunisia was studied in order to determine a differentiation by a discriminant factorial analysis and an analysis of biometric measurements. The different results showed an asymmetry within and between the otoliths of the different populations. Despite the difference between Pagellus erythrinus of the Western basin and Pagellus erythrinus of the Eastern basin, the observed intraspecific variation fades in front of the interspecific variation. The Pagellus erythrinus sampled in the basin (Western and Eastern) allowed us to highlight the polymorphism of the otoliths thanks to the highly significant differences obtained (p-value < 0.0001).