Morphometric and meristic study of Garra rufa populations in Tigris and Persian Gulf Basins

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine morphometric and meristic characteristics of Garra rufa in 13 stations of Tigris and Persian Gulf basins. We caught 310 specimens during the year 2007-2008 using electro-shocker and sachok. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and principal component analysis were conducted and the ANOVA revealed significant differences in 28 morphometric and 9 meristic factors (P<0.05). Factor analysis showed that G. rufa of thirteen stations had 48.855% changes in 3 factors of the first morphometric characters (pectoral fin length, ventral fin length, depth of anal fin) and 71/611% changes in 3 factors of the first meristic characters (lateral line scales , circum peduncle scales, predorsal scales). Plotting the first and second principal component morphometric and meristic characters showed that the Mond River population was separated from the others but the other populations were overlapping with each other in the characteristics studied......