Otólitos de peixes estuarinos e marinhos do estado do Ceará, Brasil: o início de um catálogo

Abstract

Otolith are defined as structures constituted by calcium carbonate and play an essential role in the position perception, movement, balance and sound receptions of bone fishes. Inserted in the auditor capsule of fish, where is located the three pairs of otoliths known as sagittae, lapillii e asteriscii. Have varied morphology in the different orders, families and species, where usually are used in in age and growth studies, habitat uses and species identification studies. This research aims to characterize sagittae otolith according to its more obvious features and descriptors shapes existent in some species samples in coastal and marine ecosystems of Ceará state. The Laboratório de Dinâmica Populacional de Peixes Marinhos (DIPEMAR) of the Instituto de Ciências do Mar (Labomar) of Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) got the specimens of this study through data collect originated from research projects carried out in estuary of Cocó and Mucuripe beach, in Fortaleza, in estuary of Pacoti river between counties of Aquiraz, Fortaleza and Eusebio, and in sea of Acaraú. Posteriorly to species identification using identification keys, the otoliths were removed and stored in eppendorf tubes. That way, were obtained otoliths from 34 species, belonging to 15 orders and 19 families. These were photographed and standardized, in order to check the results who allowed analyze features of side profile and inner face. This work organized the results considering order, family and species and then presenting the morphological characteristics, in order to use them posteriorly to compose a data bank of sagitta otoliths from species of Ceará estate.