Bilateral asymmetry of otoliths from Collichthys lucidus of different sizes in Haizhou Bay and Xiangshan Bay

Abstract

In recent years, the frequent occurrence of most human activities has seriously affected the structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems. The asymmetric relationship between the left and right otoliths of fish is often used to test the difference in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) reflected by the square of the coefficient of asymmetric variation (CV²a), which can be regarded as an important step in the study of marine environmental pressure and implementation of offshore ecological restoration. In this study, the authors tested the bilateral FA of Collichthys lucidus in the coastal waters of Haizhou Bay, Jiangsu, and Xiangshan Bay, Zhejiang, China, using four sagittal otolith characters (length, width, perimeter and area) as biological characters. The results showed that the value of CV²a in otolith width (more sensitive to environmental pressure) of C. lucidus in Xiangshan Bay was higher than that in Haizhou Bay, indicating that the environmental pressure on Xiangshan Bay was relatively high. The authors did not find any significant differences in the FA of otoliths between different body sizes of C. lucidus, which may be related to the short‐distance migration in different regions and the dietary shifts in the life history of this species. The results have conservation and management implications for this population.

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REGULAR PAPER
Bilateral asymmetry of otoliths from Collichthys lucidus
of different sizes in Haizhou Bay and Xiangshan Bay
Shuo Zhang
1,2
| Xiao Zhang
1
| Shike Gao
1
| Ruilin Shu
1
| Guanghui Fu
3
|
Jikun Lu
3
1
College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean
University, Shanghai, China
2
Joint Laboratory for Monitoring and
Conservation of Aquatic Living Resources in
the Yangtze Estuary, Shanghai, China
3
Marine and Fishery Development Promotion
Center in Lianyungang, Liangyungang, China
Correspondence
Shike Gao, Marine and Fishery Development
Promotion Center in Lianyungang, Jiangsu,
Liangyungang 222002, China.
Email: gshike@163.com
Guanghui Fu, College of Marine Sciences,
Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306,
China.
Email: 12390696@qq.com
Funding information
Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology
Commission Local Capacity Construction
Project, Grant/Award Number: 21010502200;
the Jiangsu Haizhou Bay National Sea
Ranching Demonstration Project, Grant/Award
Number: D-8005-18-0188
Abstract
In recent years, the frequent occurrence of most human activities has seriously
affected the structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems. The asymmetric rela-
tionship between the left and right otoliths of fish is often used to test the difference
in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) reflected by the square of the coefficient of asymmet-
ric variation (CV
2a
), which can be regarded as an important step in the study of
marine environmental pressure and implementation of offshore ecological restora-
tion. In this study, the authors tested the bilateral FA of Collichthys lucidus in the
coastal waters of Haizhou Bay, Jiangsu, and Xiangshan Bay, Zhejiang, China, using
four sagittal otolith characters (length, width, perimeter and area) as biological char-
acters. The results showed that the value of CV
2a
in otolith width (more sensitive to
environmental pressure) of C. lucidus in Xiangshan Bay was higher than that in
Haizhou Bay, indicating that the environmental pressure on Xiangshan Bay was rela-
tively high. The authors did not find any significant differences in the FA of otoliths
between different body sizes of C. lucidus, which may be related to the short-distance
migration in different regions and the dietary shifts in the life history of this species.
The results have conservation and management implications for this population.
KEYWORDS
bilateral asymmetry, Collichthys lucidus, otolith, size
1|INTRODUCTION
Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is a non-directional deviation from bilat-
eral symmetry that often occurs in marine organisms (Abdulsamad
et al., 2020; Palmer, 1994; Panfili et al., 2005). Most studies have
shown that FA always exists in the life history of fish and will not be
eliminated due to growth (Jawad et al., 2012; Al-Rasady et al., 2010;
EL-Regal et al., 2016), which could be regarded as an effective charac-
teristic of growth, health, population fecundity or population stress
levels in large or adult fish (Díaz-Gil et al., 2015). Moreover, this low-
cost, not labour-intensive method has great advantages for detecting
the environmental changes in the sea area and analysing the
environmental pressure level (Mabrouk et al., 2014). Many fish body
parts and/or organs can be used to examine and evaluate FA, e.g., gill
rakers, number of pectoral fins, fish proportion, eye spot area or oto-
lith size and shape (Al–Hassan et al., 1990; Gonçalves et al., 2002;
Jawad, 2003,2004; Øxnevad et al., 2002; Somarakis et al., 1997,
Somarakis et al., 1997b).
The otolith is a calcium carbonate structure integrating auditory
and balance function contained within the inner eardrum labyrinth of
true bone fish and is divided into the lapillus otolith, sagittal otolith
and asteriscus otolith (Harvey et al., 2000; Wicaszek et al., 2020). Due
to its variability and uniqueness, otolith morphology not only perma-
nently records the life history of fish (Markwitz et al., 2000; Plonus
et al., 2021) but is also a product of interactions with variable water
environments and complex genetic information (Collins et al., 2013;* Shuo Zhang and Xiao Zhang were regarded as the co-first authors
Received: 2 July 2022 Accepted: 14 November 2022
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15276
FISH
J Fish Biol. 2023;102:403–412. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfb © 2022 Fisheries Society of the British Isles. 403