International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.42, 1-8
1
Research Article Open Access
Morphometric and Meristic Characters of Greater Amberjack
Seriola dumerili
(Pisces: Carangidae) from the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia
A. Sley
1
, G. Hajjej
1
, Laith A. Jawad
2
,
, O. Jarboui
3
, A. Bouain
4
1 National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Gabes, Tunisia, Avenue Habib Thameur, Gabes, 6000, Tunisia
2 Flat Bush, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand
3 National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Sfax, Tunisia, Sfax, Tunisia; Box: 1035, Sfax, 3018, Tunisia
4 Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia, Box 1171, Sfax, 3000, Tunisia
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.42 doi
Received: 26 Aug., 2016
Accepted: 10 Oct., 2016
Published: 19 Oct., 2016
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Sley A., Hajjej G., Jawad L.A., Jarboui O. and Bouain A., 2016, Morphometric and Meristic Characters of Greater Amberjack
Seriola dumerili
(Pisces:
Carangidae) from the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia, International Journal of Marine Science, 6(42): 1-8 (doi
Abstract
Morphometric and meristic characters of Greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili
have been studied from Gulf of Gabes,
Tunisia, Eastern Mediterranean. Samples of
S. dumerili
were collected in the period June 2004 to May 2006 for this study. Eleven
morphometric in percentage of total fish length and seven meristic characters have been studied. No significant differences were
observed between male and female fish. Isometric and both positive and negative allometric growth of morphometric characters of
Seriola dumerili
were observed. Therefore, the present study gives information to fishery biologists about morphometric and meristic
characters of the fish,
Seriola dumerili
from the Tunisian waters. This will help to plan further conservation strategy for this fish.
Keywords
Gulf of Gabes;
Seriola dumerili
; Morphometric characters; Tunisia; Management; Environment
Introduction
The Greater amberjack
Seriola dumerili
(Risso, 1810) is widely distributed and prefers coastal epibenthic and
pelagic areas. This fish is one of the most common in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas,
where supports a commercially important local fishery (Sley et al., 2014). This species is common in the Tunisian
waters of the Mediterranean Sea (Sley, 2010) and it is may be caught by many fishing methods including haul
seines, lampara nets, purse seines, gill nets, and by hook and line, however, its commercial catch has decreased
relatively in recent years in the Gulf of Gabes (Sley, 2010).
Several biological aspects of the greater amberjack have been documented throughout its geographical range
(Masuma et al., 1990; Tachiaraet al., 1993; Marino et al., 1995; Manooch and Potts, 1997; Jerez et al., 2006;
Sley et al., 2014).
The speciation measures are the most important issues in any systematic study. These measures can be traced by
studying genetic differences between organisms, which can be analyzed either directly at the level of nucleic acids
or indirectly through visible modifications of morphological structures (Wägele, 2005). Morphometric and
meristic characters are important in providing accurate information about the identity of the fish species as do the
genetic studies, so cannot be ignored as valuable for species recognition (Wägele,2005; Harrisonet al., 2007;
Ibañezet al., 2007; González- Castro et al., 2008). The morphometric and meristic procedures are known to be
quicker, more practical, and less expensive than molecular studies, thus allowing many individuals to be screened
in the field (Ibañez et al., 2007).
The morphometric characters are genetically (Narrow range), intermediate (Moderate range) and environmentally
(Vast range) controlled (Johal et al., 1996).
Analyses of countable body features (meristic) have been widely used for fish identification and in studying stock
structure of fishes. The most commonly meristic characters have been external, including number of fin spines
