Otolith atlas for marine fishes of the southwestern Atlantic occurring along southern Brazil (28° S-34° S)

Abstract

Otoliths are acellular apposition structures composed of approximately 90% of calcium carbonate and other inorganic salts, which develop over a protein matrix located in the inner ear of bony fishes playing an essential role in the senses of balance and hearing. These structures grow throughout a fish’s lifetime. Owing to their species-specific shape, otoliths are an important tool for the identification of fish species in the diet of predators when collected from stomachs and, due to their low water content, are helpful for archaeological, paleontological and anthropological studies for its presence in fossilized remains. This atlas is aimed at the identification of abundant or frequent bony fishes otoliths in the diet of predators and in fossilized remains from the continental shelf and upper continental slope of southern Brazil between Santa Marta Grande cape (28° S) and Chuí (34° S) on the border with Uruguay. It includes the otolith description of 136 bony fishes species, including most of the abundant and frequent species in the region. Easy to use graphics are provided to infer fish size based on otolith measurements. Vouchers of different sizes of otolith of all species included in this atlas are deposited and available for consultation at the Demersal Fisheries Resources and Cephalopods Laboratory (IO-FURG).