Distinct inter and intrapopulation variation in the otolith shape and size of Mullus barbatus (Actinopterygii: Mullidae) from the Bizerte and Ghar El Melh lagoons in Tunisian waters

ABSTRACT This study aimed to assess the geographic variation in otoliths’ shape and size and the effect of potential fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in otolith size on the stock structure of Mullus barbatus collected from the Bizerte and Ghar El Melh lagoons located in northeastern Tunisia and to evaluate the relationship between the otolith mass asymmetry (OMA) and total length (TL). Analysis of the otolith shape showed a statistically significant intersexual shape difference, i.e. asymmetry, in the left and right and left-left and right-right otoliths between populations of the two lagoons. In addition, significant intersexual differences were detected in Lo, Wo, and Mo, as well as in FA, between the left and right otoliths among the two populations. Moreover, no statistically significant relationship (P > 0.05) was found between OMA and TL between and within the two populations. At the intrapopulation level, a significant intrasexual asymmetry was observed in the left and right, as well as on left-left and right-right sides, otoliths’ shape and size only within the Ghar El Melh lagoon. Discriminant function analysis of the otoliths’ contour shape confirmed the presence of two separate stocks representing the Bizerte and Ghar El Melh lagoons, which should be managed separately. This significant inter and intrapopulation asymmetry detected in otolith shape and size due to FA can be attributed to the instability of larval development caused either by environmental stress associated with variation in water temperature, salinity, feeding conditions and pollutants or due to poor living conditions of larvae resulting from unfavourable environments.