Morphological Variations Observed on the Sand Smelt (Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810) Populations

Authors: ÖMER ALTUN

Abstract: The morphological characteristics of marine and fresh water populations of A. boyeri were described in detail for the first time from the Turkish waters, and their metric and meristic characters were compared both with one another and with those given previously for its brackish water population from Lake Küçükçekmece. It was realized that the distribution of these characteristics remained within the ranges given for the Mediterranean Basin. The morphology of premaxilla, of scale and of vertebra, and the difference in color form the differential properties among these three populations.

Keywords: Atherina boyeri, morphological variations, the Sea of Marmara, Lake İznik

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