Aksunger Karaavci Funda, Demiraslan Yasin, Dortbudak Muhammed Yasar, Demircioglu Ismail
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bingol University, Bingol, Turkey.
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.
Vet Med Sci. 2025 Jul;11(4):e70333. doi: 10.1002/vms3.70333.
The Cyprinidae family is one of the most varied families in terms of number of species, representing approximately 1500 species in the world. Luciobarbus barbulus (Heckel 1847) is a little-known species, but it is widespread in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The aim of the study was to analyse the body shape and otoliths of L. barbulus species by geometric morphometry to better distinguish the population structure of the fish.
In this study, 34 barbulus and their otoliths were used. General Procrustes Analysis (superimposition), principal component analysis (PCA), multivariate regression analysis, Partial Least Squares and discriminant function analysis were applied.
Multivariate regression analysis revealed a 9.1174% effect of size on otolith shape. PCA calculated 33 components for the otoliths in the study, and the first 3 components explained 64.027% of the total shape variation. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis revealed that there is no significant correlation between otolith and fish shape. As a result of the discriminant function analysis, 33.33% (4:12) of female otoliths and 36.36% (8:22) of male otoliths were correctly grouped.
This study revealed that otolith shape analysis is an effective tool for deciphering the population structure of small pelagic species. It was also found that there is no difference between otolith and fish shape as otolith biomineralization is influenced by many factors.
鲤科是物种数量最多样化的科之一，全球约有1500种。巴氏无须魮（Heckel，1847年）是一种鲜为人知的物种，但在底格里斯河和幼发拉底河广泛分布。本研究的目的是通过几何形态测量法分析巴氏无须魮的体型和耳石，以更好地辨别该鱼类的种群结构。
本研究使用了34条巴氏无须魮及其耳石。应用了广义普氏分析（叠加）、主成分分析（PCA）、多元回归分析、偏最小二乘法和判别函数分析。
多元回归分析显示，大小对耳石形状的影响为9.1174%。PCA计算出本研究中耳石的33个成分，前3个成分解释了总形状变异的64.027%。偏最小二乘法（PLS）分析显示，耳石与鱼的形状之间无显著相关性。判别函数分析的结果是，33.33%（4:12）的雌性耳石和36.36%（8:22）的雄性耳石被正确分组。
本研究表明，耳石形状分析是解读小型中上层鱼类种群结构的有效工具。还发现，由于耳石生物矿化受多种因素影响，耳石与鱼的形状之间没有差异。
