Patterns of hyperostosis during the ontogenic development of Atlantic spadefish (Broussonet, 1782) in Brazilian coast

Abstract

Marine teleost species of commercial interest are often reported with hyperostosis, an osteological condition that results in bone thickening. Various specimens of Atlantic Spadefish Chaetodipterus faber ( n = 86) obtained from artisanal fishermen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were radiographed and assessed to detect the occurrence of hyperostosis across four different size classes. Of the examined individuals, 58.62% displayed signs of hyperostosis, which manifested in eight skeletal regions, notably in the supraoccipital crest, cleithrum and supraneural areas. In the vertebral column, hyperostosis was more frequently observed in haemal spines than in neural spines, predominantly between the sixth and eighth caudal vertebrae. The smallest size class (

Bibliographic Information