Spatial Variability of Morphometric Characters of Freshwater Food Fishes from River Ganga of Districts, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The morphometric characters were evaluated to assess the population status of the commercial valuable food fishes collected from River Ganga at three different locations, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi. In this study, seventeen morphometric parameters were considered to examine during the month of October, 2022 to January, 2023. Usually, the various species of fishes consumed from the river Ganga. For present study, the morphometric characters like total length, fork length, standard length, pre-orbital length, post-orbital length, eye diameter, head length, pre-pectoral length, pre-dorsal length, pre-pelvic length, pre-anal length, length of dorsal fin, length of pectoral fin, length of caudal fin, length of caudal peduncle, body depth and body weight of four fish species, Labeo rohita, Rita rita, Wallago attu and Cyprinus carpio examined. A total of 25 specimens of each species were collected and the quantitative measurement of each aforesaid morphometric character provided crucial data regarding the development of fish body parts. Additionally, the positive correlations have been significantly (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05) detected amongst the selected morphometric characters of fishes. This study will be very crucial for fisheries management. Also, the findings will distribute the important standards for the geographical distribution of the commercially valuable food fishes. Further, the study defines that the growth of all fishes is suitable and the river Ganga ecosystem on three sites, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi is enormously favourable to the aquatic fauna especially fishes.