1Faculty of Fisheries, Rangil, Ganderbal, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar-190 025, Jammu and Kashmir (India)
2Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandary, Shuhama, SKUAST-K, Shuhama-191 202, Jammu and Kashmir (India)
*e-mail: sabinagohar@gmail.com
Otoliths are microscopic calcium carbonate-based structures that serve as valuable taxonomic markers. The current study examines the relationships between the size of sagittal otoliths and the body measurements of Puntius conchonius. A total of 45 specimens of P. conchonius were collected from Dal Lake, from them 25 intact sagittal otolith samples were obtained. Cleaned otoliths were photographed under a stereomicroscope and analysed for morphometry viz, otolith length (OL), otolith width (OW), and otolith weight (Owt). Total length and weight of the fish were also recorded. Results revealed a weak correlation between fish size and otolith dimensions, indicating limited explanatory power of fish body size on otolith growth. In contrast, strong correlation was observed between otolith length and width (R2= 0.884), suggesting proportional internal growth. Moderate correlation was observed between otolith length and weight (R2 = 0.442), while otolith width and weight showed weak correlation (R2 = 0.243). These findings highlight that otolith development is strongly influenced by environmental and physiological factors such as temperature, nutrition, and metabolic activity rather than their somatic growth alone. The study provides new baseline data on the overall shape of P. conchonius otoliths from freshwater systems in Kashmir and emphasizes the potential of future studies on otoliths as key to ecological monitoring, taxonomic analysis, and age determination.
Otolith morphometry, Puntius conchonius, sagittal otolith
