Morphometric and Meristic Characteristics of Four Scorpaenoid Species from Antalya Bay, Türkiye

Abstract

In this study, fifteen morphometric and nine meristic traits have been examined of the Scorpaena scrofa, Scorpaena elongata, Scorpaena notata, and Helicolenus dactylopterus species from the Antalya Bay. The results showed that the S. scrofa total length ranged from 109.29 to 271.12 mm and was characterized by dark spots on its spinous dorsal spines between the 6th and 11th. In the S. elongata total length was 153.61 to 248.67 mm. On the other hand, S. notata is characterized by a total length of 131.28 to 305.24 mm and supraocular tentacle. In the H. dactylopterus total length was 110.87 to 306.23 mm. The linear length-length relationships and the allometric growth pattern were also investigated. For all species, correlations between fifteen different morphometric measurements showed a significant difference (p <0.05). R2 correlation coefficient was between 0.752 to 0.988 for the S. scrofa, 0.485 to 0.959 for the S. elongata, 0.207 to 0.975 for the S. notata, and, 0.417 to 0.926 for the H. dactylopterus, respectively. Thus, this study may provide useful information for the conservation and sustainable management of these important fish species.