TITLE:
Morphometric Analysis on Shape Transition during Growth of the Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus, Poey, 1860)
AUTHORS:
Elvia Teresa Mendoza-Barrera, María Eugenia Vega-Cendejas, Monica Améndola-Pimenta, Rossanna Rodríguez-Canul
KEYWORDS:
Lutjanus campechanus, Ontogeny, Shape, Integration, 2B-PLS, CR Coefficient
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.8 No.4,
October
18,
2018
ABSTRACT: The red snapper Lutjanus campechanus (Poey, 1860) has a high commercial
value that sustains an important fishery in Mexico. In this study, the patterns
in morphological variations from early juvenile to adult stages were assessed
by geometric methods (GM) in 194 organisms. Changes in shape were more
evident and rapid in the early juvenile stage and decreased during adulthood.
The principal components analysis of shape (Relative Warp Analysis, or
RWA) identified size and body depth as the main sources of variance associated
to both juvenile and adult organisms. The outline of the head and the tail
showed the most noticeable differences following the ontogenic pathway
visualized by thin-plate splines indicating that the ontogenetic pathway of the
upper half and the lower half of the dorsal head profile (DHP) are in relatively
opposite directions than those from the tail that bends ventrally. The
Two-Block Partial Least Square analysis (2B-PLS) and their CR coefficients
showed that the two modules had a moderate linear trend (p = 0.001). Although
the blocks have morphological changes at different rates, there is a
moderate synchrony in growth by modules. This study is the first to report
the use of geometrical morphometry in L. campechanus in Mexico.