Otolith morphology reveals ontogenetic complexity during early life history in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus

We examined variation in the size and shape of sagittal otoliths from flexion larvae to post-settlement juveniles in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus (Pallas, 1770). Sand gobies obtain their scalation and fins by around 10 mm standard length (SL), followed by a protracted pelagic interval before settlement at 16-18 mm SL. Using image analysis, we investigated whether these life-history transitions were associated with shifts in otolith size, shape, and growth. The image analysis freeware ImageJ Version 1.54 was used to obtain size and shape data from each otolith. Statistical analyses were undertaken using SPSS version 29 (univariate analyses) while multivariate analyses were undertaken using PRIMER version 7.The data file is divided into six worksheets: (1) a list and explanation of all codes; (2) a copy of the full raw data set; (3) means calculated for individual fish; (4) calculations of lateral symmetry within an otolith pair; (5) raw output from the ImageJ software for each otolith; and (6) conversion scales used to obtain metric data from pixel measurements for each otolith.