Morphometric and meristic variation in ricefishes, genusOryzias: a comparison with cytogenetic data

Abstract

Morphometric and meristic data from type and other material of ricefishes of the genusOryzias, particularly onO. latipes andO. curvinotus, were retaken to compare relationships of ricefishes indicated by morphological data with the relationships indicated by the cytogenetic analyses (Uwa, 1986). Along with morphometric and meristic characters traditionally used, two morphometric characters are useful for the classification of this genus: the relative length of the abdominal part and the relative position of the dorsal-fin origin. External anatomical data mostly agree with a classification of ricefishes based on karyology; although, like the cytogenetic data, they are not sufficient to distinguish all species, or to define monophyletic groups.Oryzias latipes is widespread in eastern Asia.Oryzias curvinotus, a name applied to ricefish from Hainan Island, is distributed more widely in southern China, including Hainan, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Hanoi.