OTOLITH MASS ASYMMETRY IN CARANGOIDES CAERULEPINNATUS (RÜPPELL, 1830) (FAMILY: CARANGIDAE) COLLECTED FROM THE SEA OF OMAN

Abstract

The sagittae mass asymmetry was studied in the teleost Carangoides caeruleopinnatus. The value of the asymmetry was calculated as the difference between the mass of the right and left paired otoliths, divided by average otolith mass. The results show that the absolute value of X in C. caeruleopinnatus does not depend on fish length and otolith growth rate, as it does in other symmetrical fish species. However, the absolute value of otolith mass difference increases with the fish length. The value of x falls between -0.2 and +0.2.

Keywords

• otolith
• mass asymmetry
• carangoides caeruleopinnatus
• sultanate of oman