Preliminary data on the study of otolith morphology of five pelagic fish species from the Adriatic Sea (Croatia)

The otolith (sagitta) measurements obtained by image analysis of five pelagic fish species: Engraulis encrasicolus (LINNAEUS, 1758) ; Sardina pilchardus (WALBAUM, 1792) ; Scomber scombrus LINNAEUS, 1758 ; Scomber japonicus HOUTTUYN, 1780 ; Belone belone (LINNAEUS, 1761) from the catch samples realised in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea were analysed. Three dimensionless shape descriptors of form factor (FF), roundness (RD) and aspect ratio (AR) were analysed and revealed statistically significant differences between the otoliths of stated pelagic fish species. Maximum otolith length (LO) and otolith weight (WO) were linearly correlated to total fish length (TL) for each studied fish species ; they were increasing proportionally during the fish growth.