Abstract—A scute is a bony type of projection often is a modified scale. Scute material from Decapterus species found in coastal waters of Macajalar Bay is presented. Geometric morphometric methods were used to determine if scute morphology can discriminate between sexes and scutes variants among different body regions. Based on the morphological characterization of scutes using SHAPE method, Paleontological Statistics (PAST) revealed a morphological variation of scutes among regions but not between male and female Decapterus sp. Scute variation often an alteration of one or more morphological, behavioral, physiological, or developmental responses. This paper will help provide more information about diversity and complexity of fish scutes as it may resolve identification problems for future fish taxonomy.

Index Terms—Decapterus scutes, principal component analysis, elliptic fourier analysis and sexual dimorphism.

E. G. R Vasallo is with Cagayan University, Cagayan de oro City, Philippines (e-mail: egaryvasallo@gmail.com).
C. G. Demayo and Mark Anthony J. Torres are with the Department of Biological Sciences, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines (e-mail: author@nrim.go.jp).

 

Cite:Edgar Gary R. Vasallo, Mark Anthony J. Torres, and Cesar G. Demayo, "Elliptic Fourier Analysis in Describing Scutes in Selected Body Regions of Decapterus sp.," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 411-415, 2013.