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Abstract：
The garfish Belone belone represents the only valid endemic Belone species for the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It shows a wide global distribution range, with a high commercial value and ecological relevance in the pelagic domain. Despite this, there needs to be more knowledge regarding the otoliths of this species, with the total absence of descriptions regarding asterisci and lapilli from Mediterranean populations and a lack of studies on the reliability of shape analysis on its sagittae. The present paper aims to provide the first main contours description of the three otoliths pairs from a Mediterranean population, providing an accurate investigation of morphology, morphometry, and intra-specific variability of sagittae, lapilli, and asterisci. Results showed (i) the absence of directional bilateral asymmetry and sexual asymmetry for the three otoliths pairs, (ii) a different morphology and morphometry of sagittae, lapilli and asterisci than those described in the literature, and (iii) an enhanced variability between sagittae morphometry and shape between the three investigated size classes. All these data confirmed the reliability of the studied species of shape analysis, showing a geographical and size-related variability of otoliths features probably related to genetics, environmental conditions, and life habits variations.
摘要：
七叶鱼Belonebelone是地中海和东大西洋唯一有效的特有Belone物种。它显示了广泛的全球分布范围，在中上层领域具有很高的商业价值和生态相关性。尽管如此,需要更多关于这个物种的耳石的知识，完全缺乏有关地中海人群星号和lapilli的描述，并且缺乏对其射手座形状分析可靠性的研究。本文旨在提供来自地中海种群的三个耳石对的第一个主要轮廓描述，提供准确的形态学调查，形态计量学,和射手座的特异性内变异性，lapilli,和星号。结果表明（i）三个耳石对不存在定向双侧不对称和性不对称，（ii）射手座的不同形态和形态计量学，lapilli和星号比文献中描述的要多，和（iii）矢状形态计量学和形状之间的变异性在三个调查的尺寸类别之间增强。所有这些数据证实了所研究物种形状分析的可靠性，显示可能与遗传学有关的耳石特征的地理和大小相关的变异性，环境条件,和生活习惯的变化。
