ENZYMATIC AND MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSES IN MEDITERRANEAN POPULATIONS OF THE ROSE SHRIMP, ARISTEUS-ANTENNATUS (RISSO, 1816)

Eleven samples of rose shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) from different are as of the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic waters were subjecte d to morphometric and electrophoretic analyses. The object was to char acterize possible population differences that would account for previo usly reported differences in behavioural patterns observed in commerci al fishing activity. Genetic analysis of 27 enzyme systems yielded onl y fifteen useful loci of which fibre had allele variants, but only two of them were polymorphic within 95%. Morphometric analysis of nine bo dy and appendage measurements revealed significant differences between sampling sites in scaphocerite length, uropodal length, and the lengt h of the articles on the third walking leg. The samples analysed genet ically could not be differentiated, but morphological differences were compared between different hydrographic regions of the Mediterranean Basin. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.