Relationships between sagittal otolith size and body size of Terapon jarbua (Teleostei, Terapontidae) in Malaysian waters

Length-weight relationship provides basic information of a fi sh’s condition while the morphometric data of otolith has been traditionally used to determine the range of fi sh sizes for various purposes.The length-weight relationship of Terapon jarbua(Forskål,1775)was examined from 165 specimens,while 132 specimens were used in sagittal otolith biometry measurements.Fish specimens were obtained from various locations in Malaysia including Pahang,Selangor,Sarawak,and Sabah.The total length of fi sh ranged 12.5–32.5 cm,while the total weight ranged 26.28–444.30 g.The otolith length ranged 0.423–1.070 cm,and the otolith weight was 0.0103–0.1572 g.The specimens displayed a mixture of positive and negative allometry growth as indicated by fl uctuating b values between 2.74 and 3.15.The overall coeffi cient of determination(R 2)between fi sh length and weight was 0.9729,which implies a strong correlation.All regressions between the fi sh length and otolith dimensions were highly signifi cant(P<0.001).The otolith dimensions found to be most closely related to the fi sh total length was the otolith weight.This was supported by the regression model showing a high R 2 value of 86.57%.The aspect ratio of otolith was 1.80±0.14(mean±SD).Results confi rm that the otolith growth refl ects the somatic growth of T.jarbua.The length-weight relationship explained the growth conditions of the fi shes in each location while the overall b value of 2.91 indicates that the condition of T.jarbua grown in Malaysian waters during the study period was generally in good condition.This study contributed to the database on the morphometric data of otolith of T.jarbua as well as the fi rst report on fi sh length-weight relationship for T.jarbua in Malaysia.