CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SCALE MORPHOLOGY AND SALIENT FEATURES OF THE SELECTED MARINE FISHES

Scales are the remarkable structures on the fish body and it provides structural support. The scale morphology has proved to be a useful tool in fish classification the number of rows, and the scale types are considered to identify species. In this study, fourteen marine fishes were collected and compared to identify the scales' morphological differences and features in the three locations. In each fish, scales are collected from three different areas on its body; three regions are head region, caudal region, and median region. They were analyzed to find the morphological differences using stereo and compound microscopes. Mainly two types of scales are seen from the fishes that are cycloid and ctenoid scales. They are together known as elasmoid scales. Scale size is different in different scales from the same fish, and also the scales differ according to the fish age The scales can be used to study the age of fish by analyzing its annuli. The shape of scales is mainly oval, round, a rectangular. The fishes studies belong to two families such as Sciaenidae, and Cynoglossidae, and the rest belong to nine different families such as Sphyraenidae, Psettodidae, Nemipteridae, Synodontidae, Sillaginidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Epinephelidae, and Mugilidae. Morphological differences were identified on the scales of fishes within the same family Sciaenidae, and Cynoglossidae. This study found that scale parameters are considered to be an essential parameter to study fish taxonomy.