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Anomalous otoliths were discovered among modern and archaeological (8th millennium BP) sciaenids. The two species concerned, Cilus gilberti and Sciaena deliciosa, are common on the Peruvian-Chilean coast and do not seem to be affected by this morphological anomaly that maintained in their populations for thousands of years. The carbonates of the anomalous forms, determined by X-ray diffraction, are different from that of the normal otoliths, i.e. calcite and vaterite instead of aragonite. A method of non-destructive analysis by cathodoluminescence is tested and assumptions on the origin of the anomaly and its possible implications on environmental studies are advanced.