Otolith morphology is a widely accepted tool for species identification in teleost fish, but whether this holds true for very small species remains to be explored. Here, the saccular otoliths of the cryptobenthic Mediterranean clingfish Gouania (Gobiesocidae) are described for the first time. Our new data, although preliminary, indicate that otolith morphology and morphometry support the recognition of the recently differentiated five species of Gouania in the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, otoliths of phylogenetically closely related Gouania species resemble each other more than do those of the more distantly related species. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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第一次记录地中海 Gouania (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) 的耳石

耳石形态学是一种被广泛接受的硬骨鱼物种鉴定工具，但这是否适用于非常小的物种仍有待探索。在这里，首次描述了隐底栖地中海粘鱼 Gouania (Gobiesocidae) 的囊状耳石。我们的新数据虽然是初步的，但表明耳石形态学和形态测量学支持对地中海最近分化的五种 Gouania 的识别。此外，系统发育密切相关的 Gouania 物种的耳石彼此之间的相似性比关系更远的物种的耳石更相似。本文受版权保护。版权所有。