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Analysis of growth zones and microstructure in otoliths of two macrourids from the North Pacific abyss

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The microstructure of the sagittae of Coryphaenoides armatus variabilis and C. yaquinae from the North Pacific abyss was studied in thin sections with light microscopy. Growth increments fitting the general description of daily growth increments known from sagittae of shallow-living fishes (e.g., hake) were observed and numerically related to larger-scale ring patterns. These larger-scale patterns included rings which appeared to be annual (i.e., tertiary rings) and those of an unknown periodicity (i.e., secondary rings). The ratio of the number of increments to tertiary rings ranged between 181:1 and 406: 1 in C. a. variabilis. These values essentially agree with observed ratios between increments and yearly annuli of hake sagittae. It is suggested that large abyssal macrourids may be relatively young and thus have extraordinarily rapid rates of growth.

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  1. Raymond R. Wilson Jr.

    Present address: Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, 140 Seventh Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

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  1. Marine Biology Research Division, A-002, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Raymond R. Wilson Jr.

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  1. Raymond R. Wilson Jr.
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Wilson, R.R. Analysis of growth zones and microstructure in otoliths of two macrourids from the North Pacific abyss. Environ Biol Fish 21, 251–261 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000374

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000374

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