Morphological study of Diplodus sargus, Diplodus puntazzo, and Lithognathus mormyrus (Sparidae) in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea

Truss morphometric measurements were made on white seabream, Diplodus sargus, sharpsnout seabream, Diplodus puntazzo, and striped seabream, Lithognathus mormyrus from Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to discriminate populations. Stepwise discriminant analysis yielded a reduced variable set that identified significant differences between all the four countries. The overall percent-correct classification rate for the four samples from the stepwise discriminant analysis based on 7, 9 and 10 adjusted morphometric characters ( D. sargus, D. puntazzo, L. mormyrus samples, respectively), was 93.7, 90.6 and 96.3%. For each species, there was a significant degree of morphological dissimilarity between countries. A clear geographical gradient occurs between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean samples, suggesting that in some cases the fish from these areas represent separate groups.