Length estimation of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) using vertebrae

Autor: Adam J. Andrews, Dimitra Mylona, Lucia Rivera‐Charún, Rachel Winter, Vedat Onar, Abu B. Siddiq, Fausto Tinti, Arturo Morales‐Muniz
Přispěvatelé: European Commission, Andrews, Adam J., Mylona, Dimitra, Rivera-Chárun, Lucia, Winter, Rachel, Onar, Vedat, Siddiq, Abu B., Tinti, Fausto, Morales‐Muniz, Arturo, Archaeology of Northwestern Europe, Edebiyat Fakültesi
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 32(3), 645-653
Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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ISSN: 1047-482X
Popis: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 table.-- Open Access
Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT) is a large (up to 3.3 m in length) pelagic predator which has been exploited throughout the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean since prehistoric times, as attested by its archeological remains. One key insight derivable from these remains is body size, which can indicate past fishing abilities, the impact of fishing, and past migration behavior. Despite this, there exists no reliable method to estimate the size of BFT found in archeological sites. Here, 13 modern Thunnus spp. skeletons were studied to provide power regression equations that estimate body length from vertebra dimensions. In modern specimens, the majority of BFT vertebrae can be differentiated by their morphological features, and thus, individual regression equations can be applied for each rank (position in vertebral column). In an archeological context, poor preservation may limit one's ability to identify rank; hence, “types” of vertebrae were defined, which enable length estimates when rank cannot be determined. At least one vertebra dimension, height, width, or length correlated highly with body length when vertebrae were ranked (R2 > 0.97) or identified to types (R2 > 0.98). Whether using rank or type, length estimates appear accurate to approximately ±10%. Finally, the method was applied to a sample of Roman-era BFT vertebrae to demonstrate its potential. It is acknowledged that further studies with larger sample sizes would provide more precision in BFT length estimates
This work is a contribution to the MSCA SeaChanges ITN and was funded by EU Horizon 2020 (H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Grant Number: 813383). Open Access Funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Bologna within the CRUI-CARE Agreement
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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