Otolith microstructure of Arabesque greenling Pleurogrammus azonus: A species with a long embryonic period

Abstract We investigated the relationship between morphological development in the embryonic stage and the formation of otolith microstructure in Arabesque greenling Pleurogrammus azonus , and then validated that the otolith increments were formed on a daily basis. Increments were more consistent to count and measure in sagittal otoliths from wild caught larvae compared to lapillar otoliths, and we suggest that sagittal otoliths as suitable for otolith microstructure analysis. This study clarified the formation time of three prominent increments on the sagittal otolith. First prominent increment (approx. 17 mm in otolith radius (OR)) was coincident with the time of eye-pigmentation in the embryonic stage. Second (approx. 36 μm OR) was considered to be the hatch increment and the third (approx. 38 μm OR) was at the time of transition from endogenous to exogenous nutrition. The third prominent increment which was the clearest radius (termed below as the check) was used as the starting point for validating the daily increment formation in sagittal otolith, and also there was no significant difference in the check radius among reared (6, 8, and 10 °C) and wild caught larvae. The relationship between number of days after hatching and the number of increments formed after check was significant and the slope of the regression line was not different from 1, validating the assumption that growth increments are formed on a daily basis in sagittae of P. azonus . The check was formed on the otolith at the transition from endogenous to exogenous nutrition, and the number of days required prior to its formation varied with water temperature. For the species in which the check is formed at the nutritional transition from endogenous to exogenous feeding, the relationship between number of days to check formation and water temperature is essential to estimate the hatch date of wild caught individuals.