Morphometric characteristics of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) landing at three fish harbors of Baluchistan, Pakistan

Item Type article

Authors Asif, Ali Roonjha; Azra, Bano; Saima, Siddique; Shazia, Rasheed

Download date 05/10/2021 08:30:41

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/41192 Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 28(1), 35-43, 2019.

MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN MACKEREL (RASTRELLIGER KANAGURTA) LANDING AT THREE FISH HARBORS OF BALUCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

Asif Ali Roonjha, Azra Bano, Saima Siddique and Shazia Rasheed Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Uthal-90150, Baluchistan. Pakistan(AAR, AB, SR); Marine Reference Collection and Resource Centre, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan (SS). email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: In the present study fifteen morphometric characters of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta were studied. Collections were made from three fish harbors, Kund Malir, Sonmiani and Gadani, Baluchistan, Pakistan. The morphometric lengths (total length, fork length, standard length, head length, pre- length, pre-orbital length, eye diameter, lower-jaw length, pre-anal fin length, head depth, pectoral fin length, length, greatest depth and pre-pelvic fin length and pre-pectoral fin length) were recorded and the descriptive statistical parameters and correlation coefficient (r) were analysis with independent variable (total length) and dependent variable (other morphometric parameters). The result shows that morphometric parameters are highly correlated to total length. Coefficient of correlation (r) indicated highest positive correlation between total length and forked length (r = 0.961, r = 0.928 and r = 0.919 at Kund Malir, Sonmiani and Gadani, respectively).The maximum total lengths of R. kanagurta recorded in the present study were 26.1 cm at Kund Malir, 26.3 cm at Sonmiani and 29.0 cm at Gadani. This study provides knowledge to the biologists regarding morphometric characters of Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta from the fish harbors of Baluchistan to help in planning of conservation strategies for this fish species.

KEYWORDS: Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta, morphometric studies, Pakistan

INTRODUCTION

In fishery biology study and stock structure estimation, information on morphometric relationships is of great significance. Morphometric and meristic studies have offered valuable outcome for of fish stocks and expressing their spatial distribution (Ihssen et al. 1981). Morphometric features of fish are the quantifiable characters. There are several morphometric characters that reflect ecophenotypic variation and are commonly used in biometric studies as is common in field studies (Waldman, 2005), but also the health of a species as well as its reproduction in an environment (Fagbuaro et al. 2015). These phenotypic variations in morphometric and meristic characters between fishes of the same species, due to variations resulting from sex, food availability, predator- prey interactions, physical parameters and environmental condition (Dasgupta, 1991). This morphometric relationship is utilized for fixing minimum legal size in many developed countries for managing fishery (Thomas, 1973). 36 Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 28(1), 2019.

The Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) is a small coastal pelagic scombroid fish frequently found in schools with a wide range of spreading in the Indo-West Pacific from , Seychelles and Red Sea east through and off northern Australia to Melanesia, Micronesia, Samoa, China and the Ryukyu Islands, entering the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal (FAO, 1983).Indian mackerel is an extremely significant species of commercial fisheries for the coastal countries bordering the Indian Ocean like, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and (Collete and Nauen, 1983; Devaraj et al. 1997; Al- Mahdawi and Mehanna, 2010; Jayabalan et al. 2014; Arrafi et al. 2016). The morphometric, biology and population structures of Indian mackerel have been studied from different parts of the world, like, India (Jayasankar et al. 2004: Krishnakumar and Menon, 2011; Hulkoti, et al. 2013; Bhendarkar et al. 2014;Goutham and Mohanraju, 2015), Gulf of Suez, Egypt(Mehanna, 2001; Amin et al. 2015), Oman (Jawad et al. 2011; Al-Mamry et al. 2011), Bay of Bengal (Mustafa and Ali, 2003), Indonesia (Soriano et al. 1988; Arrafi, et al. 2016), (Darlina, et al. 2011) and from Pakistan (Moazzam et al. 2005; Rehman, 2010). A study is undertaken to differentiate species of Rastrelliger kanagurta collected from three fish harbors of Baluchistan based on the morphology and morphometric characters. Diversity studies centered on morphometrics, consequently, may demonstrate vital in defining key areas for conservation and management. Therefore for conservation measures and capability of morphometric tools to compute biodiversity, this study offerings some morphometric parameters of Indian mackerel R. kanagurta, collected from three harbors of Baluchistan, Pakistan.

BALUCHISTAN HINGOL NATIONAL Iran PARK Karachi India North Arabian Sea KUND MALIR SONMIANI GWADAR PASNI ORMARA JIWANI GADDANI KARACHI North Arabian Sea N

Fig. 1. Map showing the collection sites. Scale bar 50 km. Inset shows the coastline of Pakistan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In order to study morphological and taxonomic characteristics a total of 344 specimen (100 plus from each harbors) of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) were collected from three main Fish Landing Harbors of Baluchistan, Sonmiani (25.4522oN & Roonjha et al.: Morphometric characteristics of Indian mackerel 37

66.5607oE), Gadani (25.1183oN & 66.7258oE) and Kund Malir (25.3923oN &65.4580oE) (Fig. 1) from January 2017 to December 2018 except for few months (fisherman unable to access the open seas). It was observed that gillnet is the gear most commonly used for the catch of Indian mackerels in this area. In each month a sample of 15-20 specimens of this species was randomly picked from the lot of fish from each fish harbors. The fishes were brought to the laboratory in polyethylene bags filled with ice for further study. Collected samples were washed thoroughly with fresh water. The species were identified according to taxonomic characteristics as described by Bianchi (1985). The morphometric measurements were carried out following the method as defined by Lowe-McConnell (1971) and Grant and Spain (1977) and the fish samples were preserved in 10 % formalin. Fifteen standard morphometric lengths, (total length, fork length, standard length, head length, pre-dorsal fin length, pre-orbital length, eye diameter, lower-jaw length, Pre-anal fin length, head depth, pectoral fin length, pelvic fin length, greatest depth, pre-pelvic fin length and pre-pectoral fin length)of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta were measured (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Morphometric measurements of the Indian Mackerel: 1, Total length; 2, Fork length; 3, Standard length; 4, Head length; 5, Pre-dorsal fin length; 6, Pre-orbital length; 7, Eye diameter; 8, Lower jaw length; 9, Pre-anal fin length; 10, Head depth; 11, Pectoral fin length; 12, Pelvic fin length; 13, Greatest body depth; 14, Pre-pelvic fin length; 15, Pre-pectoral fin length.

Statistical analysis The relationship of various logarithm transformed morphometric parameters on total length was calculated by least square method with the formula Y = a + b X where ‘Y’ is 38 Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 28(1), 2019. the dependent variable (other morphometric parameters like standard length, head length etc.), ‘a’ is the intercept value, ‘b’ is the regression coefficient and X is the independent variable (total length).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The external morphological features of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) are described in Table 1. The body of mackerel are moderately deep and fusiform. A black spot on body near lower margin of pectoral fin and eyes with adipose eyelid. From the morphometric measurements as presented in Table 2. The maximum total lengths of R. kanagurta recorded in the present study were 26.1 cm at Kund Malir, 26.3 cm at Sonmiani and 29.0 cm at Gadani, while Rehman (2010) documented 26.3 cm and 26.7 cm for males and females, respectively from Karachi fish harbor for the same species. The ratio of fork length to greatest body depth is 3:1and head length to greatest depth is 1:1.According to Luther (1973) the ratio of fork length to greatest body depth is always 4:1 and head length to greatest depth is 1:1are the specific characteristics measurements of mackerels belonging to Rastrelliger genera. The morphometric measurements of Rastrelliger kanagurta as shown in Table 3, shows that head length constitutes 23.5 % and body depth 30.2 % of the total length at Kund Malir. Whereas at Sonmiani head length showed 23.2 % and body depth expressed 29.9 % of the total length. At Gadani R. kanagurta shows 25.1 % and 27.8 % head length and body depth of the total length respectively. However, the eye diameter constitutes 19.5 %, 19.7 % and 18.0 % of the head length at Kund Malir, Sonmiani and Gadani respectively (Table 3). Similar results for R. kanagurta was observed from India by Goutham and Mohanraju (2015) where head length presented 24.6 %, body depth, 22.2 % of the total length and eye diameter is 24.3 % of the head length. The total length (Independent variable) was placed on x-axis whereas other morphometric parameter (dependent variable) on y-axis and it was observed that significant correlations occur in fork length (FL-TL), standard length (SL-TL), head length (HL-TL), pre dorsal fin length (P-DL-TL), pre orbital length (P-OL-TL) eye diameter (ED-TL), lower jaw length (LJL-TL), pre anal fin length (P-AFL-TL), head depth (HD-TL), pectoral fin length (PCFL-TL), pelvic fin length (PLFL-TL), greatest body depth (GBD-TL), pre pelvic fin length (P-PLFL-TL), pre pectoral fin length (P- PCFL-TL). (Table 4).The correlation coefficient (r) was minimum0.141, 0.137 and 0.002 in pre pectoral fin length (P-PCFL-TL), pre dorsal fin length (P-DL-TL) and greatest body depth (GBD-TL) at Kund Malir, Sonmiani and Gadani, respectively. Whereas the best fit relationship was observed for fork length (FL-TL) where r = 0.961, r = 0.928 and r = 0.919 at Kund Malir, Sonmiani and Gadani respectively(Table 4). Significant correlation of the morphometric parameters with total length described for the same species of Indian mackerel from Southern Coast of Maharashtra, India (Bhendarkar et al. 2014),from Australian waters (Griffiths et al. 2017) and from Karachi, Pakistan (Rehman, 2010) Similar findings were also reported in Tuna Euthynnus alletteratus in the Tunisian Waters (Hajjej et al. 2011). However, it is suggested that genotypic approaches in adding to the present phenotypic study may also be carried out for the confirmation of the present results. The Roonjha et al.: Morphometric characteristics of Indian mackerel 39

Table 1. The external morphological features of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) are summarized below.

S. No. Morphological characters Description Eyes with well-developed 1. Eye (e.g., the adipose eyelids) adipose eye-lid 2. Body shape Fusiform / Cylindrical 3. Head Longer than body depth Terminal, moderately large, 4. Mouth / mandible lower jaw a little larger than the upper, cleft of mouth deep Partly concealed, covered by the 5. Maxilla lacrimal bone Body bluish-green tending towards gray above and yellow on belly sides, with about three 6. Coloration of body grayish longitudinal stripes along the upper half of the body, a black spot on lower margin of pectoral fin 7. Nostrils (e.g. position] blunter Ctenoid, small, broader than 8. Scales long 9. Lateral Lines Present Dorsal 5 – 5 10. Finlets No. Ventral 5 – 5 11. Dorsal fin 02 12. First dorsal fin spines 8 - 11 13 Second dorsal fin soft-rays 12 - 12 Deeply forked with pointed lobe, with supporting caudal 14. Caudal fin rays completely covering hypural plate 15. Anal fin spines 0 – 0 16. Anal fin soft-rays 12 – 12 Triangular and pointed, less half 17. Pectoral fin the length of head 18. Pectoral fin spines 0 – 0 19. Pectoral fin soft-rays 19 – 20 Moderate or small, placed 20. Pelvic fin below the pectoral fins 21. Pelvic fin spines 01 22. Pelvic fin soft-rays 5 – 5 40 Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 28(1), 2019.

Table 2. Morphometric characters of Rastrelliger kanagurta (length in cm) collected from three fish harbors.

KUND MALIR SONMIANI (n=111) GADANI (n=122) S. Morphometric (n=111) No Characters Range Mean ± SD Range Mean ± SD Range Mean ± SD 1 Total length 19.5 – 26.1 22.3 ± 1.7 20.0 – 26.3 23.8 ± 1.2 19.9 – 29.0 24.3 ± 1.3 2 Fork length 17.0 – 22.5 19.8 ± 1.4 18.0 – 23.2 21.0 ± 0.9 17.2 – 27.0 21.5 ± 1.3 3 Standard length 10.2 – 20.6 17.9 ± 1.5 16.5 – 21.0 19.1 ± 0.8 16.2 – 24.0 19.5 ± 1.2 4 Head length 4.5 – 5.9 5.2 ± 0.3 4.8 – 5.9 5.5 ± 0.3 5.1 – 7.1 6.1 ± 0.6 5 Pre dorsal fin length 5.8 – 7.9 7.2 ± 0.4 6.6 – 7.8 7.1 ± 0.3 5.5 – 6.9 6.3 ± 0.4 6 Pre-orbital length 1.0 – 2.1 1.6 ± 0.3 1.0 – 2.0 1.8 ± 0.2 1.1 – 2.3 1.9 ± 0.3 7 Eye-diameter 0.7 – 1.2 1.0 ± 0.2 0.8 – 1.2 1.1 ± 0.1 0.8 – 1.2 1.1 ± 0.1 8 Lower-jaw length 1.5 – 2.9 2.3 ± 0.4 1.6 – 2.9 2.4 ± 0.3 1.7 – 2.9 2.4 ± 0.3 9 Pre-anal fin length 10.2 – 11.8 11.0 ± 0.4 10.2 – 12.0 11.4 ± 0.4 10.2 – 12.0 11.0 ± 0.4 10 Head depth 4.0 – 5.9 5.0 ± 0.7 4.1 – 5.8 5.5 ± 0.4 4.0 – 5.8 4.9 ± 0.5 11 Pectoral fin length 1.9 – 2.7 2.4 ± 0.2 1.9 – 2.7 2.3 ± 0.2 1.9 – 2.8 2.4 ± 0.2 12 Pelvic fin length 1.9 – 2.6 2.2 ± 0.2 1.8 – 2.5 2.2 ± 0.2 1.9 – 2.7 2.3 ± 0.2 13 Greatest body depth 5.5 – 8.0 6.7 ± 0.7 5.8 – 7.8 7.1 ± 0.5 5.5 – 8.0 6.8 ± 0.6 14 Pre-pelvic fin length 5.4 – 7.7 6.6 ± 0.5 6.1 – 7.5 6.8 ± 0.3 4.8 – 6.3 5.9 ± 0.3 15 Pre-Pectoral fin length 5.1 – 6.3 5.6 ± 0.3 5.1 – 6.9 5.8 ± 0.3 3.0 – 5.7 4.3 ± 0.7

Table 3. Morphometric ratio of R. Kanagurta collected from three fish harbors.

KUND SONMIANI GADANI S. MALIR Body proportion (n=111) (n=122) No. (n=111) Ratio Ratio Ratio 1 Head length / Greatest body depth 0.8 0.8 0.9 2 Head length / Eye diameter 5.3 5.1 5.6 3 Head length / forked length 0.3 0.3 0.3 4 Eye diameter / Pre orbital length 0.6 0.6 0.6 5 Forked length / Pre dorsal fin length 2.8 2.9 3.4 6 Forked length / Pre pectoral fin length 3.5 3.6 5.1 7 Forked length / pre-pelvic fin length 3.0 3.1 3.7 8 Forked length / pre-anal fin length 1.8 1.9 2.0 9 Forked length / Pectoral fin length 8.4 9.0 9.0 10 Forked length / Pelvic fin length 9.1 9.4 9.3 11 Forked length / Head depth 4.0 3.8 4.4 12 Forked length / Lower jaw length 8.9 8.8 9.0 13 Forked length / Greatest body depth 3.0 3.0 3.2 Roonjha et al.: Morphometric characteristics of Indian mackerel 41 data from the present study can be considered as a baseline for further research in future in this region.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics and regression parameters (total length on other morphometric parameters) for Indian mackerel collected from three fish harbors.

KUND MALIR SONMIANI GADANI PARAMETERS Y=Log(a)+b*X r Y=Log(a)+b*X r Y=Log(a)+b*X r TL FL 1.140 + 0.919TL 0.961 1.796 + 0.776 TL 0.928 0.839 + 1.016TL 0.919 SL 0.775 + 1.012 TL 0.837 1.766 + 0.752 TL 0.912 0.928 + 0.954TL 0.866 HL 1.559 + 0.389 TL 0.498 0.459 + 0784 TL 0.869 0.916 + 0.593TL 0.344 P-DL 2.014 + 0.408 TL 0.535 5.208 + 0.099 TL 0.137 1.467 + 0.455 TL 0.385 P-OL 0.002 + 2.115 TL 0.688 0.003 + 2.059 TL 0.738 0.334 + 0.534TL 0.189 ED 0.013 + 1.409 TL 0.662 0.040 + 1.040 TL 0.610 0.138 + 0.647 TL 0.476 LJL 0.004 + 2.035 TL 0.731 0.071 + 1.113 TL 0.425 0.002 + 2.168 TL 0.808 P-AFL 4.113 + 0.316 TL 0.585 4.989 + 0.259 TL 0.362 2. 152 + 0.511 TL 0.713 HD 0.066 + 1.392 TL 0.771 0.363 + 0.857 TL 0.606 0.765 + 0.580 TL 0.303 PCFL 0.101 + 1.016 TL 0.765 0.062 + 1.144 TL 0.657 0.029 + 1.390 TL 0.744 PLFL 0.212 + 0.752 TL 0.541 0.060 + 1.144 TL 0.801 0.080 + 1.055 TL 0.685 GBD 0.518 + 0.825 TL 0.603 1.313 + 0.532 TL 0.374 6.657 + 0.003 TL 0.002 P-PLFL 2.546 + 0.308 TL 0.329 1.391 + 0.500 TL 0.558 2.070 + 0.326 TL 0.285 P-PCFL 4.009 + 0.109 TL 0.141 1.799 + 0.369 TL 0.337 0.039 + 1.471 TL 0.482 [TL (Total length), FL (fork length), SL (standard length), HL (head length), P-DL (pre dorsal fin length), P-OL (pre orbital length), ED (eye diameter), LJL (lower jaw length), P- AFL (pre anal fin length), HD (head depth), PCFL (pectoral fin length), PLFL (pelvic fin length), GBD (greatest body depth), P-PLFL (pre pelvic fin length), P-PCFL (pre pectoral fin length)]

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