en Stock assessment Stock assessment پژوهشي Orginal research papers <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="TR" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">The otolith shape of the Indian halibut, <i>Psettodes erumei</i>, from the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait and the Oman Sea were studied to discriminate the fish populations in small-scale fisheries. Indian halibut is a commercially valuable flatfish species abundantly caught in the north of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. Identifying different stocks is one of the main issues for fishery management programs. In this study, four otolith measurements (surface area, perimeter, length, and width) and five shape indices (from factor, roundness, circularity, rectangularity, and ellipticity) were recorded. The morphological analyses showed a significant asymmetry between the eyed and blind sides of otoliths. The otolith shape was described by shape indices and then, compared using a canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). The shape indices did not display any significantly different mean values among areas. Also, the patterns derived from CDA did not show any separation among populations. The absence of a disparity in the otolith shape indices could be linked to the similar condition of environment and nutrition in the regions and to </span></span></span><span lang="TR" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">the ecological behavior of the species. The results of this study </span></span></span><span lang="TR" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="color:black">may improve the accuracy of decision-making in the fisheries monitoring and management of <i>P. erumei</i> in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea.</span></span></span></span></span> Stock identification, Indian halibut, Otolith morphometric, Shape indices, Oman Sea, Persian Gulf 1290 1304 http://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1821-5&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M. Ghanbarzadeh mehrna.ghanbarzadeh@gmail.com 100319475328460051243 100319475328460051243 No Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, P.O.BOX 71441-65186, Shiraz, Fars, Iran A. Salarpouri 100319475328460051244 100319475328460051244 No Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecological Center, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bandar Abbas, Iran F. Morat 100319475328460051245 100319475328460051245 No PSL Université Paris: EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, USR 3278 CRIOBE, Université de Perpignan, 66860 Perpignan, France E. Kamrani 100319475328460051246 100319475328460051246 No Fisheries Department, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran M.S. Ranjbar 100319475328460051247 100319475328460051247 No Department of Marine biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran A.R. Rastgoo Rastgoo.alireza@yahoo.com 100319475328460051248 100319475328460051248 Yes South Iran Aquaculture Research Institute, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Ahvaz, Iran