Comparison of the change in morphological pattern during the growth in length of the grey mullets Liza ramada and Liza saliens from western Greece

This paper deals with the relationship of allometric growth, differential increase of certain morphometric characters to the total length, and of the weight to the total length during growth in length of the grey mullets Liza saliens (Risso) and Liza ramada (Risso). Specimens of both sexes were collected in the Messologhi-Etoliko lagoon in western Greece. The equation used for the morphometric character Y was d Y d TL = a × b × TL b − 1 which gives information on the tendency of each morphometric character to grow in relation to total length and also gives a quantitative expression of this and the size of each character. The equation used for length-weight relationship was W = a × TLb. It is shown that the differential increase in the morphometric characters in relation to the increase in total length gives a tendency for the body of L. saliens to be slender and the body of L. ramada to be spherical. This was confirmed by data on length-weight relationships.