A method of geometric morphometrics was used to characterize body shape variation inmeiotic gynogenetic and triploid sea bass in comparison with diploid controls. A total of13 coordinate landmark data were recorded on the profile of 34-month-old control(n = 81), gynogenetic (n = 117) and triploid(n = 131) siblings generated from two females (A and B). Three mainaxes of morphometric variation were consistent, and these accounted for 60.8 and 57.6% ofthe total variability in females A and B, respectively. There were significant shapedeviations of triploid and gynogenetic fish relative to the controls, and differences wereparticularly evident in the progeny of one female. Overall, triploids displayed a moreslender shape than diploids, whereas gynogenetic fish were deeper bodied and had flexedcaudal peduncles and cranial features. The results are discussed especially in relation tothe characterization of triploid fish for commercial purposes.
