Sciaenidae (croakers) is one of the most speciose fish families in the marine Neotropical realm, with its diversification in this region closely linked to the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama. Within the Sciaenidae, members of the Stelliferinae remain taxonomically unresolved due to their cryptic aspects and low phenotypic disparities, hampering their identification by linear morphological methods. The known spotted croaker Ophioscion punctatissimus putatively comprises a species complex formed by three species (the “croaker basket”), but molecular data have indicated only two evolutionary lineages. Here, we test the hypothesis that this basket is composed by Ophioscion gomezi (GM), Ophioscion sp. (SPN), and Ophioscion punctatissimus (PC), using the otolith shape to differentiate them. Seventy-seven right sagittal otoliths (GM= 30, SPN= 30, PC= 17) were photographed to detect the otolith contour by elliptical Fourier descriptors (EFDs). ANOVA-like permutation test and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were performed to describe the variation of EFDs among the species. Differences in otolith shape were recorded among Ophioscion species by ANOVA (F= 4.75, p < 0.001) and corroborated by the LDA, demonstrating three highly segregated groups (re-classification accuracy: GM= 96.7%, SPN= 100%, PC= 94.1%). The major variation in otolith shape among the species occurred in the otolith's rostrum, with Ophioscion sp. presenting the most elongated predorsal spine and a rounded predorsal angle. As the initial hypothesis was confirmed, our results aid to reduce the taxonomic gap existing in Sciaenidae, and this method possibly can be replicated for other taxa of the family.