Biometry markers of chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782, in the Adriatic Sea

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782), is a coastal pelagic fish species that usually lives between the surface and depths of 250 or 300 m (BAuCHOt, 1987). It is a geographically widespread species that inhabits the moderate and warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans (COllEtE & NAuEN, 1983). It is also rather frequent in the Mediterranean and its adjacent seas (Black Sea, Adriatic Sea) (WHItEHEAd et al., 1986). together with other small and middle pelagic fish species, chub mackerel is an essential element of the marine ecosystem due to its biomass at intermediate levels of the food web, playing a relevant role in associating the lower and upper tropic levels (RICE, 1995; BAKuN, 1996; CuRy et al., 2000). Besides its importance in the food web, chub mackerel is also a commercially important fish The aim of the study was to present biometric analyses of chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782, from catch samples caught in the eastern Adriatic Sea between January 1998 and December 2008. Nine morphometric and eight meristic characters were analysed. The fork length (FL) of all observed specimens (N=4,157) ranged from 10.1 to 39.1 cm (mean ± SD: 23.8 ± 4.68 cm). All analysed length-length relationships were linear with high values of the coefficients of determination (r2>0.750). Males had significantly larger body depth than females as well as significantly larger number of soft rays in the pectoral fin; therefore, the possibility of sexual dimorphism was noted.