Morphometric relationhip in the Chaetognath Sagitta setosa Muller 1847: within population versus between population variability.

Abstract

Sagitta setosa is a neritic Chaetognath exhibiting a discontinuous geographic distribution. To assess the influence of its discontinuous geographic distribution on morphometric variability between isolated populations, we conducted a biometric study of S. setosa from three different locations: Goteborg and Plymouth (North Atlantic) and Barcelona ( Western Mediterranean). Out results do indicate some disparity between the populations that is reflected not in size differences, largely determined by water temperature, but in shape (body proportions).