Comparison of the olfactory morphology and morphometry of three pelagic perciform species from Pakistan

Abstract

The morphology and morphometry of olfactory systems of three fishes; <em>Scomberoides commersonnianus</em>, <em>Rastrelliger kanagurta </em>and<em> Sphyraena obtusata </em>were explored. The olfactory organs are round in <em>S. commersonnianus </em>and oval in the other two species. In the present study, 19 olfactory morphometric characters and 6 ratios (of some of the traits) are quantified. In the selected species, the mean values of all the traits and ratios were significantly different among the species (<em>p</em> < 0.001). The correlations between all olfactory traits and total length, standard length, head length and body weight are significant for all the species (<em>p</em> < 0.001). Principal Component Analysis revealed that the olfactory systems of studied species are dissimilar (both in size and shape) while, Cluster Analysis depicted that the difference is greater between the olfactory system of <em>S. obtusata</em> and the other two species. The traits that chiefly discriminate the olfactory systems of targeted species are length of both nostrils; length, width and volume of olfactory organ.