Features of the vertebral column and caudal fin skeleton for identifying Engraulis australis in food of the Australasian gannet Morus serrator, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Supplementary material

Other Title

Authors

Jawad, L.
Adams, Nigel

Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)

Degree

Grantor

Date

2023

Supervisors

Type

Journal Article

Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)

Keyword

Hauraki Gulf Islands (Auckland, N.Z.)
Auckland (N.Z.)
New Zealand
Engraulis australis (Australian anchovy)
Morus serrator (Australasian gannets)
diet analysis
Australian anchovy
Australasian gannets

ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)

Citation

Jawad, LA., & Adams, NJ. (2023). Features of the vertebral column and caudal fin skeleton for identifying Engraulis australis in food of the Australasian gannet Morus serrator, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The Anatomical Record, 306(8), 2081-2089 https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25105

Abstract

Identifying fish species from their bone remains is employed in identifying the prey of aquatic animals. However, diagnostic skeletal descriptions are scarce for fish species prey found in the food of piscivorous birds and other marinepredators in New Zealand. The present article addresses this knowledge gap, providing a diagnostic description for the vertebral column and the skeleton ofthe caudal fin of the Australian anchovy Engraulis australis inhabiting coastalwaters in and around the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The vertebral column of E. australis is divided into four morphologically distinct regions more complicated than the classical division in abdominal and caudal parts only and the drawing of characteristic-looking vertebral profiles. Each of these four regions is associated with characteristic vertebral profiles. These morphological descriptive parameters express a morphotype that may be linked with the swimming mode of the Australian anchovy. The skeleton of the caudal fin of E. australis showed distinctive characteristics that will be useful as diagnostic criteria to identify specimens of the Australian anchovy and separate them from the skeletal elements of other fish species found in the food of gannets and other marine predators in future studies

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons for the American Association for Anatomy

Link to ePress publication

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25105

Copyright holder

© American Association for Anatomy

Copyright notice

Open Access

Copyright license