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This study aimed to evaluate morphological differences between cultured and wild common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Wild specimens were collected from fishers operating in the waters of the Shatt al-Arab River, Basrah, Iraq, while cultured specimens were obtained from the Aquaculture Unit of the Marine Science Centre, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq. Significant changes were detected in all eight morphometric and three meristic characters measured and counted. Boxplots by habitat and variable showed high divergence between the populations. The meristic counts were also higher in the cultured population, and, ultimately, the two populations diverged.

The present research focuses to examine the meristic and landmark-based morphometric variations of barred spiny eel Macrognathus pancalus from four populations namely Dhakuria beel, Jessore (DBJ); Bohnni boar, Gopalgonj (BBG); the Arial kha river, Madaripur (AKRM) and the Nabaganga river, Jhenidah (NRJ) in Bangladeshi freshwaters. Six meristic counts were compared among four populations and significant differences were observed in number of caudal fin rays and number of pelvic fin rays in all meristic characters. The truss protocol was used in the present study based on six general morphometrics and fifteen truss measurements. Univariate statistics showed that five (standard length (SL), upper jaw length (UJL), lower jaw length (LJL), head depth (HD) and inter orbital (IO)) of six morphometric and eleven truss networks (viz. 2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 1-8, 2-8, 3-8, 3-7, 4-7 and 5-7) among fifteen truss measurements differed significantly. Cannonical discriminate function analyses were conducted among samples and the populations were fully intermingled. Pooled within-group correlation showed morphometric and landmark measurements; the first discriminant function (DF) accounted for 79%, the second DF accounted for 15.9% and third DF accounted for 5.1% of group variability. An euclidian dendrogram was prepared based on morphometric and truss measurements in four populations, where two clusters were mainly formed, in which first cluster formed by NRJ population was fully separated, and the second cluster was formed by two populations of AKRM and DBJ. Additionally, a subcluster BBG was formed with AKRM. On the basis of morphometric and truss measurements, 68.8%, 83.6%, 55.6% and 80% of original grouped cases were correctly classified in NRJ, AKRM, DBJ and BBG, respectively. These results specify the presence of different stocks of fish from four aquatic habitats. This study is highly significant for proper conservation and effective management of M. pancalus populations as well as for the scientific community for further research.

This study was designed to assess morphological changes between cultured and wild tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.). Wild fish samples were obtained from fishermen operating in the waters of the vicinity of the province Parakou, Benin in November 2014, while the cultured samples were obtained from a fish farm in the municipality of Sô-Ava in the Atlantic region of the southern part of the Republic of Benin. Significant differences were observed in all nine morphometric traits measured. Discriminant analysis of morphometric parameters showed high divergence between the populations. The meristic count, however, overlapped broadly showing no divergence between the populations. The morphometric differences between the cultured and wild tilapia, O. niloticus, could have been linked to genetic differences or environmental factors or a combination of these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify the distribution pattern of Cobitis populations along the southern Caspian Sea basin, 97 specimens collected from five localities were morphologically examined. Univariate analysis of variance showed significant differences (P<0.05) among the means of the five groups for 28 of 33 standardized morphometric measurements and 7 of 10 meristic counts. In the linear discriminant function analysis (DFA) for morphometric characteristics, the overall assignment of individuals into their original groups was high (84.9%), indicating that these populations are highly divergent. The proportion of individuals correctly classified into their original groups were 77.4%, 77.3%, 100%, 100%) and 89.5% for Cobitis sp. (Gisum River), Cobitis keyvani (Sefidroud River), C keyvani (Tonekabon River), Cobitis faridpaki (Siahroud River) and C. keyvani (Talar River), respectively. Clustering based on Euclidean distances among these groups of centroids using UPGMA and principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that the southeastern Caspian spined loach populations are C. faridpaki and the south central ones are C. keyvani, and an unknown population, Cobitis sp. is distinguished from the southwestern populations of the basin. Also the Tonekabon and Sefidroud Rivers were determined to be the two new habitats for C. keyvani in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]