Stock delineation of the long-whiskered catfish, Sperata aor (Hamilton 1822), from River Ganga by using morphometrics

Abstract

Long-term isolation of populations and interbreeding can lead to morphometric variations among fish populations. This study was conducted with the objective to delineate stock structure of Sperata aor on the basis of morphometric characters, using truss network of the fish body. In total, 407 S. aor samples were collected from the four sampling locations of the Ganga River, viz. Narora, Kanpur, Varanasi and Bhagalpur. In total, 28 truss distance measurements were created by joining 13 morphometric landmarks on the fish body. MANCOVA showed significant (P<0.001) morphological variance among the sampling locations for the target fish species. Univariate ANOVA showed significant (P<0.001) differences in each of the morphometric measurements among the fish from different sampling locations. Wilk’s lambda test of canonical discriminant function analysis showed significant (P<0.001) differences in morphometric measurements of the fish from all sampling locations. Discriminant function analysis using Jackknife (leave-one-out) cross-validation classification showed 87.5% correct classification of the individuals into their original populations. Mantel test showed an overall good correlation between the genetic and morphometric datasets in the selected fish species. The results of this study can be employed in formulating stock-specific management strategies for S. aor from River Ganga.

Using otoliths for fish stock discrimination: status and challenges

“…However, these methods showed three to four stocks among the selected locations across the Ganga River (cf. Nazir and Khan 2017;Khan and Nazir 2019;Nazir and Khan 2019).…”

Differentiation of intraspecific phenotypic plasticity of elongate glassy perchlet, Chanda nama: Insights into landmark-based truss morphometric and meristic variations

“…In truss-based morphometrics, 11 characters (head region: 1–2, 11–12, 11–13, 2–11, 2–12, and 2–13; and body portion: 2–9, 3–8, 3–10, 4–9, and 2–9) were found to be significant out of 23 characters among three populations. Parallel results were obtained in Sperata aor [ 44 ], Labeo ariza [ 47 ], and Labeo calbasu [ 34 ]. These phenotypic alterations among three populations may be ensured due to their distinct environmental locations and the current environmental disparity of their three habitats or may be initiated from different ancestors and genetic variations.…”

“…The significant characters of EL, HL, and BD are smaller in the JBJ population of C. nama, which could be attributed to the increase of turbidity mainly due to the creation of two floating bridges and other environmental factors. Turbid water influences in EL and HL development as well as responsible for population difference [ 43 , 44 ]. Moreover, environmental factors positively affect phenotypic variation in the head region; for instance, EL, HL, and POL.…”

Stock Structure Analysis of the Endangered Queen Loach, Botia dario (Hamilton 1822) from Five Rivers of Northern Bangladesh by Using Morphometrics: Implications for Conservation

“…Since each stock must always be regulated singly to ensure productivity, an understanding the stock formation is essential for the systematic and structured management of a fisheries resource [6] and stock information is necessary for any fishery analysis and conservation as well [7,8]. Many procedures for stock identification have been recommended, for instance, meristic and morphometrics [9][10][11][12], telemetry methods [13][14][15], chemical compositions and structures of otolith [16], fatty acid profiles [17], pollution analysis [18], and molecular approaches [19]. A scientific data analysis regarding multivariate approaches was used to evaluate variation in advancement and establish among stocks [20].…”