IDENTIFICATION OF POMADASYS SPECIES ( PISCES , HAEMULIDAE ) FROM AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MIDDEN SITE IN NANKUANLI EAST ( TAIWAN ) , BASED ON OTOLITH MORPHOLOGY

–– The morphology of the sagittae of the genus Pomadasys was used to identify otolith remains from an archaeological midden site in Nankuanli East (NKLE) in Tainan City in southwestern Taiwan. Of the 60 Pomadasys otoliths from the NKLE site, 50 were identifi ed as belonging to four presently occurring species, namely P. argenteus (n = 37), P. kaakan (6), P. maculatus (1), and P. quadrilineatus (6). Ten otoliths, lacking distinguishable characteristics remained unidentifi ed as to species. The sizes of the fi shes that would have produced the predominant P. argenteus otoliths from the NKLE site were estimated using the relationships between fi sh length, fi sh weight, and the otolith length of modern fi shes. The fi shsize estimates from most otoliths were less than 152.15 mm in length and 59.68 g in weight, except for the extrapolated estimation of 598.03 mm in length from one extremely large-sized otolith that measured 26.43 mm in length. Species composition and distribution of Pomadasys fi shes were compared between this archaeological site and the present-day status, and the implication of coastal adaptation on the estimated fi sh sizes of prehistoric NKLE inhabitants was discussed.

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