Enzymatic and morphometric analyses in Mediterranean populations of the rose shrimp, Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816)

Eleven samples of rose shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) from different areas of the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic waters were subjected to morphometric and electrophoretic analyses. The object was to characterize possible population differences that would account for previously reported differences in behavioural patterns observed in commercial fishing activity. Genetic analysis of 27 enzyme systems yielded only fifteen useful loci of which fibre had allele variants, but only two of them were polymorphic within 95%. Morphometric analysis of nine body and appendage measurements revealed significant differences between sampling sites in scaphocerite length, uropodal length, and the length of the articles on the third walking leg. The samples analysed genetically could not be differentiated, but morphological differences were compared between different hydrographic regions of the Mediterranean Basin. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.