Otoliths and Their Applications in Fishery Science

Otoliths are structures located in the inner ear cavity of all teleost fish and serve as a balance organ and also aid in hearing. They have been used traditionally to obtain information about the taxon, age and size of fishes. This is very important because age, growth rate, and mortality rate are three of the most influential life history characteristics controlling the productivity of fish populations. Besides age and growth determination, otoliths have been the object of study in many different fields, such as fish biology (hearing and balance in fishes), larval fish ecology, species identification, fish stock identification and environmental reconstruction of the fish habitat. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the traditional and current applications of the otoliths. Also, a short description of the traditional methods for age determination is included.