Otolith Morphology and Relationships of Several Fish Species of the Suborder Scorpaenoidei
Д. А. Павлов
Abstract
Otolith (sagitta) morphology is described in six tropical fish species belonged to different genera of the suborder Scorpaenoidei: Synanceia horrida, Inimicus sinensis, Parascorpaena picta, Sebastapistes cyanostigma, Scorpaenopsis papuensis, and Dendrochirus zebra. Based on otolith shape (six shape indices and elliptic Fourier analysis), S. horrida is similar to Sc. papuensis and I. sinensis is similar to D. zebra. A comparison of otolith shape in P. picta, D. zebra, and three species of the family Sebastidae (Helicolenus dactylopterus, Sebastes semicinctus, and S. hopkinsi) using elliptic Fourier and principal component analyses shows that the clusters of H. dactylopterus and S. semicinctus partly overlap with the cluster of D. zebra, and the cluster of S. hopkinsi partly overlaps with the cluster of P. picta. The data on otolith shape do not correspond with current phylogenetic schemes that indicates relative independence of the inner ear evolution.