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Fluctuating asymmetry in the size of the otolith of Engraulis australis (Shaw, 1790) recovered from the food of the Australasian gannet, Morus serrator, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112391Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The fluctuating asymmetry value of the two otolith parameters length and width of Engraulis australis was calculated.

  • The level of asymmetry of the otolith width was higher than for otolith length.

  • A tendency of increase in the asymmetry values with the fish length was observed for the otolith length and width.

  • The lowest level of asymmetry examined is for fish between 115-154 mm in length and the highest between 151-160 mm.

  • The possible reason of the asymmetry has been discussed in the area in relation to pollution.

Abstract

The fluctuating asymmetry values of the two otolith parameters: length and width of Engraulis australis, recovered from the food of gannet, which inhabit colonies in islands at Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand was calculated in this study. The dissimilarity value of the otolith width was higher than that of the otolith length. An inclination of upsurge in the dissimilarity values with the fish length was noted for the otolith sizes studied. The dissimilarity value in the two otolith sizes was the lowest for fish having total length of 115–154 mm, and the highest for fish with length of 151–160 mm. The conceivable reason of the dissimilarity obtained could be related to diverse contaminants and their presence in the study location.

Section snippets

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Both authors have read and approved the manuscript. LAJ contributed to ideas, data generation, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. NJD performed field trips to collect and sort food samples of gannet, editing, and commenting on the manuscript before submission.

Declaration of competing interest

Nigel Adams and Laith Jawad declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The study was funded in part by Birds NZ and Unitec Strategic Research Fund.

Ethical statement

The gannets, from which regurgitations were collected, were sampled under the Department of Conservation Wildlife Authority (38016-FAU) and the University of Auckland Animal Ethics Committee approval notice (001797).

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