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.