Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the relationship between fish size and otolith size of four creek-associated fishes (Anodontostoma chacunda, Epinephelus diacanthus, Johnius glaucus and Mugil cephalus) collected from the north-eastern Arabian Sea from November 2021 to November 2022. The numerical relations were established using regression between fish size (Total length-TL and Body weight-BW) and otolith dimensions (Length-OL, Weight-Owt, Area-OA, Width-OW and Perimeter-OP). All regressions between the fish size and otolith morphometric measurements were highly correlated (R2 > 0.8), which indicates the robustness of the model. Taxonomists can use findings from this study for species confirmation and reconstruction of past species assemblages. These findings might provide insight into predicting the prey size in food and feeding studies to explore the food web dynamics.