 | This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (March 2021) |
| Otolith | |
|---|---|
 Otolith organs showing detail of utricle, otoconia, endolymph, cupula, macula, hair cell filaments, and saccular nerve | |
 Juvenile herring. Length 30 mm; 3 months old; still transparent; the otoliths are visible left of the eye. | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | statoconium |
| TA98 | A15.3.03.086 |
| FMA | 77826 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
An otolith (Greek: ὠτο-, ōto- ear + λῐ́θος, líthos, a stone), also called statoconium, otoconium or statolith, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The saccule and utricle, in turn, together make the otolith organs. These organs are what allows an organism, including humans, to perceive linear acceleration, both horizontally and vertically (gravity). They have been identified in both extinct and extant vertebrates.[1]
Counting the annual growth rings on the otoliths is a common technique in estimating the age of fish.[2]
- ^ Sahney, Sarda; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2001). "Extrinsic labyrinth infillings imply open endolymphatic ducts in Lower Devonian osteostracans, acanthodians, and putative chondrichthyans". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (4): 660–669. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0660:ELIIOE]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86182956.
- ^ Gordon, D.P. (2009). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.