Identification tool for fishes by using meristic and morphometric characteres

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Identifications of fishes are very important for ichthyologists and fisheries biologists who need to know names of fishes. However, it is usually difficult to exactly identify fishes because there are so many similar species in diversified groups such as percoids. When ichthyolgists and fisheries fisheries biologists try to identify fishes, they usually rely on field guides and identification keys. Keys are usually difficult for many fisheries biologists to follow, because there are so many couplets until reaching to the end of the keys. Particularly the keys for families and genera do not clearly show distinguishing characters I many cases. There are strong needs to create an identification tool which enables non-taxonomists identify fishes by using relatively easy characters such as countable and measurable characters. Recent developments of computer technology make practically possible to use many meristic and morphometric characters for identification of fishes. Because meristic and morphometric characters are relatively easy for non-taxonomists to identify fishes and those characters can be easily treated by computer with help of statistical program, we tried to establish an identification tool by using those characters. Our study successful produced the practically useful identification tool based on originally designed program. When users of this tool put meristic and morphometric data into search boxes and push "search" button, the tool provides candidate species. This tool was put on a website of the National Museum of Nature and Science ; it is easily downloaded from the website. This identification tool run on the software Microsoft Excel which is widely used by fisheries biologists.