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This study sought to differentiate the species of skates encountered in Gulf St Vincent (GSV), South Australia using normalized elliptical Fourier analysis of body shape. Significant intraspecific variation was observed among whole body shapes. This was overcome by limiting subsequent analyses to the anterior snout region, where significant differences in shape were detected among the species examined and provided a high degree of classification success for the skates of GSV. More generally, this approach has the potential to provide a cost- and time-efficient means of discrimination among species of skates. Further research is required to investigate the potentially confounding effects of sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic variation in growth to improve the efficacy of the body shape analysis of the skates and batoids species in general. In addition, this approach requires considerable development to facilitate implementation in a fishery setting. |
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