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Email the author (Login required) Use of morphometry of cephalopod beaks in stomach content studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3856/vol39-issue3-fulltext-20
Abstract
The systematics and taxonomy of cephalopods from Chilean water sarescant and incomplete. Many species are rarely caught by conventional methods and are regularly collected from the stomachs of predators. Identification in stomachs is often done using mandibles or beaks. Along our coasts, these structures are generally used little for taxonomic purposes. This study is a preliminary description and analysis of the morphometry of 111lower beaks of 28 continental and island species from Chile. Each beak was extracted, preserved, and measured under a graduated eyepiece, using seven taxonomic characters, from which six indexes were calculated: wing-rostrum (b/a), beak height-base line (c/d), base line-wing projection (d/e), cresthood (f/g), base line-crest (d/f), and hood-rostrum (g/a). Each index was described graphically and statistically. The indexes b/a, g/a, d/e, and f/g show a greater dispersion of data and the possibility of identification between the species analyzed than do the indexes c/d and d/f.
