Morphological variability in a Mediterranean, genetically homogeneous population of the European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus

A comprehensive morphometric and meristic analysis was carried out on seven anchovy samples taken from locations representative of the species distrib ution range in the north-western Mediterranean, a region inhabited by a sin gle, genetically homogenous population of this species. Multivariate analys es performed separately on both sets of morphological data evidenced extrem e variability among samples, In the case of morphometric data, a meaningful geographical pattern was entirely lacking. The morphological variation det ected appeared to have a predominantly environmental basis. Besides, morpho metric and meristic data indicated different levels of interaction between the biology of the species and its environment. In light of these results, the author advises that morphological information be used to study the biol ogy of species from a dynamic viewpoint. but warns against the use of such data in studies on population structure in the classic sense. (C) 1999 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.