Morphometric and meristic characteristics of Painted comber, Serranus scriba (L. 1758), in the Trogir Bay area (eastern mid-Adriatic)

Painted comber, Serranus scriba (Linnaeus, 1758), is a subtropical species which is found in the Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea. The aim of this study was to report the data on the painted comber morphometric and meristic characteristics in the Adriatic Sea, as until now they have not been systematically studied. Samples of 253 painted comber individuals were monthly caught as by-catch species of the small coastal trawl between June 2001 and May 2002 in the Trogir Bay area (eastern mid-Adriatic). In order to analyzed biometry of the species, fifteen morphometric and eight meristic characters were measured. Total length of painted comber specimens ranged between 7.1 and 20.0 cm, the mean value was 11.0 plus or minus 1.70 cm. Comparison of the obtained morphometric and meristic characteristics with the same ones that were published earlier did not show differences between painted comber populations inhabiting the Adriatic, different parts of the Mediterranean areas (including the Black Sea) and the eastern Atlantic.