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Taxonomic Validation of Sweetlips Fish (Haemulidae: Plectorhinchinae) From the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman Based On Traditional and Geometric Morphometrics With Notes On Their Distribution

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Abstract

The genus Plectorhinchus (sweetlips) exhibits high morphological plasticity, especially in coral reef ecosystems, which is often due to response to different environments regardless of genotype. Few studies are known on the correct taxonomic identification of the species in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. In the present study, the morphometric and meristic differences between eight sweetlips from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman were investigated using traditional and geometric morphometrics. The traditional approach based on principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant function analysis (DFA) showed significant morphological differences among morphotypes. The main features used to discriminate between morphotypes were body depth, orbital diameter, caudal peduncle depth, dorsal fin length, gill rakers, and transverse scale rows. The geometric morphometric method (GMM) gave almost congruent results with the traditional morphometric and showed a high divergence between species except for Plectorhinchus schotaf and P. flavomaculatus. The morphometric and shape variations could be related to ecomorphological variables. Species diversity was greater in the Gulf of Oman than in the Persian Gulf, which could be due to abiotic factors, geological events, and habitat structure.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank local fishermen for their help in collecting the specimens.

Funding

This research was financially supported by Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran (number: 46162).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Ehsan Damadi & Faezeh Yazdani Moghaddam

  2. Zoological Innovations Research Department, Institute of Applied Zoology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Faezeh Yazdani Moghaddam

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

    Mehdi Ghanbarifardi

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  1. Ehsan Damadi
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Ehsan Damadi: Conceptualization (lead); Data curation (lead); Methodology (lead); Investigation (lead); Formal Analysis (lead); Software (lead); Visualization (lead); Writing – original draft (lead); Writing – review & editing (lead). Faezeh Yazdani Moghaddam: Conceptualization (supporting); Data curation (supporting); Resources (lead); Supervision (lead); review & editing (supporting). Mehdi Ghanbarifardi: Data curation (supporting); Formal Analysis (supporting); review & editing (supporting).

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Correspondence to Faezeh Yazdani Moghaddam.

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Funding support for this research was provided by the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran (number: 46162).

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Damadi, E., Moghaddam, F.Y. & Ghanbarifardi, M. Taxonomic Validation of Sweetlips Fish (Haemulidae: Plectorhinchinae) From the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman Based On Traditional and Geometric Morphometrics With Notes On Their Distribution. Thalassas (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-024-00663-9

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