Truss network based morphometric and meristic variations among south-western populations of Macrognathus aculeatus in Bangladesh

Abstract

Aim: Landmark-based truss network system was applied to examine the morphometric and meristic differences among four different populaces of Macrognathus aculeatus namely; Dhakuriabeel, Jashore (DBJ); Arial Kha River, Madaripur (AKRM); Nabaganga River, Jhenaidah (NRJ); Kopotakkha River, Jashore (KRJ) in Bangladesh. Methodology: Completely 80 samples of M. aculeatus were collected (20 individuals from each population) for this study. Six meristic characters, 6 morphometric characters and 15 truss-based morphometric characters were measured for one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-HSD post hoc test. Discriminant function analyses were also performed by using morphometric and truss-based morphometric characters to detect potential characters responsible for population separation. Results: Completely 80 samples of M. aculeatus were collected (20 individuals from each population) for this study. Six meristic characters, 6 morphometric characters and 15 truss-based morphometric characters were measured for one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-HSD post hoc test. Discriminant function analyses were also performed by using morphometric and truss-based morphometric characters to detect potential characters responsible for population separation. Interpretation: The baseline information derived from the present study would be useful for appropriate conservation of M. aculeatus populations as well as for the researchers for further investigation.

Intraspecific morphological variations of the vulnerable loach, Lepidocephalichthys annandalei (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae) in inland waterbodies at southwestern Bangladesh

“…Macrognathus aculeatus (Mahfuj, Das, et al, 2021), Cirrhinus reba (Mahfuj, Islam, et al, 2021), Botia dario (Mahfuj et al, 2022). Inland capture fisheries in Bangladesh offer access to a wide variety of fish species, in particular small indigenous fish species (SIFS).…”

“…The species is vulnerable to Bangladeshi environments, and catches have been sharply decreased as a result of overfishing and changes to the river ecology brought on by human activity (Brander, 2013; Tillotson et al, 2021). In numerous Bangladeshi rivers, wetlands, and lakes, studies on intra‐specific morphometric variation have been conducted on a variety of fish species, including Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Gain et al, 2017), L. guntea (Mahfuj, Rahman, & Samad, 2019), Chanda nama (Azad et al, 2020), Macrognathus aculeatus (Mahfuj, Das, et al, 2021), Cirrhinus reba (Mahfuj, Islam, et al, 2021), Botia dario (Mahfuj et al, 2022). Inland capture fisheries in Bangladesh offer access to a wide variety of fish species, in particular small indigenous fish species (SIFS).…”

“…Individuals may adopt distinct adaptation techniques in response to diverse environmental circumstances, such as food accessibility, temperature, salinity, swimming habits, and hence develop diverse morphometric traits (Sajina et al, 2011). Moreover, understanding the role of a morphological feature is a stronghold for applied use in taxonomical and ecological research (Heidari et al, 2019; Mahfuj, Das, et al, 2021; Turan, 2004). Nevertheless, the subject of morphological characteristics includes several recent techniques, in which multiple statistical analyses are employed to measure observed traits at intraspecific levels of a species (Rohlf & Marcus, 1993).…”