Otolith mass asymmetry in Rhynchorhamphus georgi (Valenciennes, 1846)( Family: Hemiramphidae) collected from the Sea of Oman

Abstract

Abstract Saccular otolith mass asymmetry was studied in the teleost Rhynchorhamphus georgi collected from the Sea of Oman. It was calculated as the difference between the mass of the right and left paired otoliths divided by average otolith mass. the absolute value of x in R. georgi does not depend on fish length and otolith growth rate as the case of other symmetrical fish species. On the other hand, the absolute value of otolith mass difference is increased with the fish length. The value of x falls between -0.2 and 0.2.

Keywords

• Key words: Otolith, mass asymmetry, Rhynchorhamphus, the Sea of Oman, Sultanate of Oman

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