Bremm C Q, Schulz U H
Laboratório de Ecologia de Peixes, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos ? UNISINOS, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil.
Braz J Biol. 2014 May;74(2):274-82. doi: 10.1590/1519-6984.11612.
Otoliths are calcium carbonate structures located in the inner ear of fish; they are responsible for hearing and balance. The inner ear has three pairs of otoliths: the lapilli, the sagittae and the asterisci. The sagittae otoliths are the largest and their format is species-specific. Because of their composition, otoliths can resist to the digestive tract of ichthyophagous species, and they can be used as an important tool for identifying species of fish found in stomach contents. The purpose of this work is to provide a photographic guide of the sagittae otoliths of the main fish species from the Sinos River. This atlas consists of photographs of the sagittae otoliths of 36 species belonging to 15 families distributed in five orders.
耳石是位于鱼类内耳中的碳酸钙结构；它们负责听觉和平衡。内耳有三对耳石：微耳石、矢耳石和星耳石。矢耳石是最大的，其形态具有物种特异性。由于其成分，耳石能够抵抗食鱼物种的消化道，并且可以用作识别胃内容物中鱼类物种的重要工具。这项工作的目的是提供一份来自西诺斯河主要鱼类物种矢耳石的摄影指南。这本图谱包含了分布在五个目、15个科的36个物种的矢耳石照片。
