Biometric properties of Horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus, (Osteichthyes: Carangidae) from the middle Adriatic Sea

Abstract

       Relationship between twelve morphometric measurements and eight meristic characters were examined in 257 specimens of horse mackerel (115 females, 103 males and 39 immature ones) caught in the middle Adriatic. Morphological differences between males and females were not marked. Modal values of morphometric measurements and obtained meristic properties point to a homogeneous horse mackerel population in the middle Adriatic. No differences pointing to the existence of subpopulations were recorded. Some morphometric changes occurred as the body length increases (Lt ). It is assumed that there were no marked morphological differences between horse mackerel populations inhabiting different parts of the Mediterranean, NE Atlantic and Black Sea.