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| Spotted sea trout Red snapper Black sea bass |
After further research on how NOAA collects data from otoliths for different fisheries I have found out a few interesting facts. I learned that different species of fish have different shaped otoliths. In general, the size of the otoliths is bigger in fish who live in reefs or rocky bottoms and fish that spend most their time swimming in the open ocean tend to have smaller otoliths. Some scientists can actually determine the species of fish just by looking at the otolith. For example, the spotted sea trout has a smooth and elongated otolith and the black sea bass has a small rigid otolith with a rough texture to it. These otoliths come from 3 different species of fish. The red snappers otoliths (middle) are bigger than the others. This is because the red snappers habitat is located in reefs or on rocky bottoms. The black sea bass and spotted sea trout spend their time swimming throughout the ocean looking for food so in return they have smaller otoliths. Fish like mackerel and tuna have extremely small otoliths that in most cases require a microscope to extract.
I had no idea that the surroundings of fish had an impact on the size of their otoliths. That is really interesting and helpful for my project. Best of luck with the progress on yours.(:
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Grace! I didn't know this about otolith sizes either. I LOVE learning something new!! My question now is....WHY???
DeleteThat is so interesting, I would think the otolith would be bigger for open ocean fish, so they could detect large predators.
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