| Fish ear bones, otoliths, teach scientists about marine life and seafood fraud | |
| By Peter de Kruijff |
Source: ABC Pilbara |
1/7/2023 |
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Credit: DPIRD |
Thumbing through the West Australian catalogue of fish ear bones is a bit like looking at the abstract shapes in a modern art gallery.
"They're essentially sculptures and works of art," the state's chief fisheries scientist, Dan Gaughan, says. |
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"Each species of fish [ear bones] is unique in some way from every other fish, some are similar, but each one is slightly different."
More practically, these ear bones — called otoliths — can help detect seafood fraud, manage fish stocks and give an insight into environmental conditions from the years past or even the present. |
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