Larval population structure of Engraulis encrasicolus in the Strait of Sicily as revealed by morphometric and genetic analysis
Abstract
In order to investigate the larval population structure, specimens of Engraulis encrasicolus larvae from five different locations in the Strait of Sicily were analyzed by means of otolith readings, morphometric and genetic techniques. The distribution of age in day, identified by means of the otolith readings and associated with the oceanographic parameters, was useful to identify possible spawning areas and transport dynamics. The presence of more than one spawning area suggested the possibility that two or more sub‐populations may co‐exist in the study area. The morphometric characteristics were more adequate than genetic parameters to discriminate the different larval groups. The most relevant variables for the separation were the mouth length (ML) and the body diameter (BD). The population structure by means of genetic data reported the presence of two phylogroups co‐occurring among samples in each sampling locations specimens. The pattern of genetic divergence among anchovy larvae in the Strait of Sicily was congruent with previous studies conducted on adult populations present in other Mediterranean areas with different molecular markers. The habitat‐specific nature of the morphological variation and the lack of corresponding genetic variation among larvae from the different locations suggested that the observed differences in morphology could be linked to environmental parameters. The body form differences among different larvae samples could reflect the nutritional status of larvae. In fact, these differences were found among anchovy larvae collected in areas with different oxygen and fluorescence, which is an index of primary productivity and is linked to the availability of food for anchovy larvae.
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The Lagrangian simulation technique has already been successfully applied to study larval stages and their relationships with environmental conditions.
“This technique has already been successfully applied to study larval stages and their relationships with environmental conditions [37,38].”
From Environmental Conditions along Tuna Larval Dispersion: Insights on the Spawning Habitat and Impact on Their Development Stages (2022) · cites this paper as [37]
The Introduction (p. 2) says the study examines anchovy larvae in relation to environmental variability, and the Discussion (p. 9) considers how water dynamics may transport them. But the paper describes otolith, morphometric and genetic analyses—not an application of a Lagrangian simulation technique. Searches for that technique and for particle-tracking simulations found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Cuttitta, A., Torri, M., Zarrad, R., Zgozi, S., Jarboui, O., Quinci, E. M., Hamza, M., Abdulfatah, E., Haddoud, D., El Turki, A., et al. (2018) · Hydrobiologia · doi:10.1007/s10750-017-3483-x · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationRusso, S., Torri, M., Patti, B., Musco, M., Masullo, T., Di Natale, M. V., Sarà, G., & Cuttitta, A. (2022) · Water · doi:10.3390/w14101568 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Cuttitta, A., Patti, B., Maggio, T., Quinci, E. M., Pappalardo, A. M., Ferrito, V., De Pinto, V., Torri, M., Falco, F., Nicosia, A., Musco, M., Armeri, G. M., Placenti, F., Tranchida, G., Mifsud, R., Bonanno, A., & Mazzola, S.
- Affiliations
- Institute for Coastal Marine Environment (IT)
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT)
- Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero UOS Capo Granitola Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche via del mare 3 – 91021 Campobello di Mazara Trapani Italy
- University of Catania (IT)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche ed Ambientali Università di Catania Corso Italia 57 ‐ 95129 Catania Italy
- Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture MSDEC Għammieri Ngiered Road Marsa MRS 3303 Malta
- Corresponding author
- Cuttitta, Angela
- ORCID
- Venue
- Fisheries Oceanography
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-02-27
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-149
- ISSN
- 1054-6006 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2419
- OpenAlex
- W2159282912
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 2.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Fisheries Oceanography (publishedVersion)
- CNR SOLAR (Scientific Open-access Literature Archive and Repository) (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Italian Ministry-European Data Collection Framework (199/2008)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Fish Biology and Ecology Studies
- Keywords
- Engraulis encrasicolus, anchovy larvae, spawning grounds, larval transport, otolith age, morphometric variation, genetic divergence, phylogenetic groups, body shape, primary productivity, Strait of Sicily
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