Study of some morphometric and meristic characters of striped piggy fish, Pomadasys stridens (Forsskal, 1775) from Karachi Coast, Pakistan

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In the present study 391 fish samples (155 male and 236 female) of Pomadasys stridens of variable sizes ranging from 3.5-106 g weight in male; 14-130g weight in female and 56-198 mm in total length (TL) in male while 99-210 mm (TL) in female were sampled from Karachi coast. This fish showed constant meristic characters. Statistical interpretation of Metric data indicated that there is direct relationship between total body length with Head length (HL), snout length (Sn. L), Eye diameter (E.D) and Length of Caudal peduncle (CPL). The meristic characters like dorsal fin rays, anal fin rays, Lateral line scales, gill rakers on lower arm and scales in transversal line were counted. No sexual dimorphism was found in Pomadasys stridens.

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The Journal of Zoology Studies 2014; 1(4): 01-06
ISSN 2348-5914
JOZS 2014; 1(4): 01-06
JOZS © 2014
Received: 02-08-2014
Accepted: 15-08-2014
Amtyaz Safi
Department of Zoology,
Sir Syed Govt. Girls College,
Nazimabad, Karachi-74600,
Pakistan
M. Atiqullah Khan
Department of Zoology,
University of Karachi, 75270
Pakistan
M. Zaheer Khan
Department of Zoology,
University of Karachi, 75270
Pakistan
Correspondence author:
Amtyaz Safi
Dept. of Zoology, Sir Syed Govt.
Girls College Nazimabad, Karachi-
74600, Pakistan
Tel: 0092-3212374804
E-mail: imtiazsafi76@gmail.com
Study of some morphometric and meristic characters of striped
piggy fish, Pomadasys stridens (Forsskal, 1775) from Karachi
Coast, Pakistan
Authors: Amtyaz Safi
*
, M. Atiqullah Khan, M. Zaheer Khan
Abstract
In the present study 391 fish samples (155 male and 236 female) of Pomadasys stridens of
variable sizes ranging from 3.5- 106 g weight in male; 14-130g weight in female and 56- 198
mm in total length (TL) in male while 99-210 mm (TL) in female were sampled from Karachi
coast. This fish showed constant meristic characters. Statistical interpretation of Metric data
indicated that there is direct relationship between total body length with Head length (HL),
snout length (Sn. L), Eye diameter (E.D) and Length of Caudal peduncle (CPL). The meristic
characters like dorsal fin rays, anal fin rays, Lateral line scales, gill rakers on lower arm and
scales in transversal line were counted. No sexual dimorphism was found in Pomadasys
stridens.
Keywords: Morphometric, meristic characters, Pomadasys stridens, Karachi coast, Pakistan
1. Introduction
Commercial quantities of large numbers of finfish and shellfish are present in the Pakistani
coastal waters
[1]
. The striped piggy, Pomadasys stridens is among the fish species of economic
importance in the Pakistani coastal waters. It belongs to the family Haemulidae and can be
found at depths between 30 -68m depth in Bentho-pelagic and reef associated tropical areas of
Western Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and east Africa to Mozambique to the Arabian Gulf (Fig. 1).
Some works have been reported on different aspects of different species of family
Pomadasyidae (Grunt fishes) From Pakistan
[2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13]
. Historically, the
morphology of fishes has been the primary source of information for taxonomic and
evolutionary studies. There are numerous characters available for morphological study. These
characters are most commonly divided in to two categories:
 Morphometic: characters refer to measureable structures such as fin length, head length,
eye diameter, or ratios between such measurements.
 Meristic characters include almost any countable structure, including fin rays, scales, gill
rakers, and so on.

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Some works on different aspects of Pomadasys
stridens are available like:
[5, 6, 8, 14, & 15]
, but practically,
no work has been under taken on Morphometry of
Pomadasys stridens from Pakistan or elsewhere in the
world. Since these information are vital for the proper
management of the fisheries and for optimum
utilization of the resources, the present study was
therefore, under taken.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Study area
The Karachi coast was the study area for this research.
The Karachi coastline is between latitude 24°53'N and
longitude 67°00'E, and lies in the Northern boundary of
Arabian Sea.
2.2 Collection of specimens and sampling
Samples of Pomadasys stridens (Fig. 2) were collected
fortnightly from fish harbors of West Wharf and
Korangi Creek of Karachi coast. The fish was
identified by using the Bianchi,
[2]
. Simple random
sampling technique was used. A total of 391 samples
collected during the study period. The samples were
transported to the laboratory and preserved in a deep
freezer at -20 °C until examination and analysis.
2.3 Body measurements
The specimens were brought out of the deep freezer
and allowed to thaw and the body length was measured
using a one-meter measuring board graduated in mm.
Morphometic characters like total body length (TL),
Head length (HL), snout length (Sn. L), Eye diameter
(E.D) and Length of Caudal peduncle (CPL) were
measured.
Meristic characters like dorsal fin rays, anal fin rays,
Lateral line scales, gill rakers on lower arm and scales
in transversal line were counted.
Fig 1: Geographical distributional area of Pomadasys
stridens (Courtesy by: www.fishbase.org)
Fig 2: Image of Pomadasys stridens
(Courtesy by: www.fishwisepro.com)
3. Results and Discussion
3.1 Morphometric Characters
The morphometric indices of linear measurements
(head length, snout length, eye diameter, and caudal
peduncle) have been expressed as indices (%) with
reference to total length (Table 2, Fig. 3 & 4). The
linear measurements have been expressed as indices
with reference to total length. The indices show the
same values in both sexes, which show that there is no
sexual dimorphism in both sexes.
The variety of morphometric parameters taken for the
fish sampled are given in table 2. The total body length
of fish had a range of 56mm to 219mm, Head length
(HL) had a range of 14mm to 55mm, snout length (Sn.
L) was 4.5mm to 19mm, Eye diameter (ED) was
4.5mm to 14.16mm and the Length of caudal peduncle
(CPL) was 5.5mm to 21mm.
The linear relationship of various morphometric
characters and total length was reported by Khumar
and Siddiqui
[16]
, Rizkalla
[17]
, Pandey et al.
[18]
, Jaiswar
et al.
[19]
in various fish species.
Again, it was observed that all the body parameters
show higher values of linear correlation with total
length and head length. This indicates that the growth
of fish in one area of the body is co-related to growth
in another area of the body. Oniye et al.
[20]
, in their
study of biology of Protopterus annectens in Jachi
Dam stated that the high regression coefficient
obtained for the relationship between pectoral and
pelvic fins length should be taken that the pectoral fin
grows at approximately the same rate as the pelvic fin
though the pectoral fin is longer than the pelvic fin.
The correlation coefficient of the pectoral/pelvic fins
with the total length shows that they all increase at the
same rate.

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Table 1: Meristic Counts of Pomadasys stridens
Sex
Scales in transversal line
Gill Rakers on lower arm
Anal fin rays
Dorsal fin rays
Lateral line scales
Male
9
-
10 (1) 23
-
26
15
-
16
3, 9
12, 14
-
16
57
-
60
Female
9
-
10 (1) 23
-
26
15
-
16
3, 9
12, 14
-
16
57
-
60
Table 2:Morphometric indices in % per length group of P. stridens.
Groups (TL)mm Sex N Mean TL Mean H.L %H.L Mn. Sn.L %Sn.L Mn. ED %E.D Mn. CP %C.P
50-59 M 1 56 14 25 4.5 8.035 4.5 8.035 5.5 9.821
F 0 - - - - - - - - -
90-99 M 4 96 24.75 25.78 8.5 8.854 7.25 7.552 10.25 10.68
F 1 99 25 25.25 8 8.081 8.2 8.28 11 11.11
100-109 M 3 105 26.667 25.4 9 8.571 8.333 7.937 10.667 10.16
F 5 106 27 25.47 9.6 9.07 8.2 7.736 11.6 10.94
110-119 M 3 114 29 25.44 9.667 8.48 8.333 7.31 13.333 11.7
F 6 116.667 29.833 25.57 10 8.571 8.667 7.429 11.833 10.14
120-129 M 10 123.7 31.2 25.22 10.8 8.731 8.9 7.195 12.2 9.863
F 8 124 30.875 24.9 10.75 8.669 9.125 7.359 12.875 10.38
130-139 M 0 - - - - - - - - -
F 2 136 36 26.47 12 8.824 10 7.353 13 9.559
140-149 M 9 146.333 37 25.29 12.444 8.504 11.333 7.745 16.222 11.09
F 14 145.857 37.071 25.42 11.571 7.933 10.714 7.346 15.786 10.82
150-159 M 17 155.824 39.059 25.07 13.059 8.381 11.353 7.286 17.059 10.95
F 23 154.174 39 25.3 12.87 8.347 11.174 7.248 16.522 10.72
160-169 M 17 165.765 41.765 25.2 14.647 8.836 11.882 7.168 16.882 10.19
F 38 164.553 42.553 25.86 14.237 8.652 12.132 7.372 16.868 10.25
170-179 M 37 174.081 44.784 25.78 15.054 8.648 12.73 7.313 18.486 10.62
F 54 174.463 45.37 26.01 14.926 8.556 12.426 7.122 18.056 10.35
180-189 M 38 183.737 48.579 26.44 16.395 8.923 13.474 7.333 19.211 10.46
F 39 184.462 47.974 26.01 16.103 8.729 13.282 7.2 19.615 10.63
190-199 M 16 192.875 50.188 26.02 16.813 8.717 13.5 7 19.75 10.24
F 38 193.553 50.211 25.94 16.842 8.702 12.947 6.689 19.053 9.844
200-209 M 0 - - - - - - - - -
F 6 200.667 53 26.41 17.5 8.721 14.167 7.06 19.333 9.635
210-219 M 0 - - - - - - - - -
F 2 210 55 26.19 19 9.048 14 6.66 21 10
50-219 M 155 165.336 42.613 25.77 14.413 8.717 12.052 7.289 17.374 10.51
F 236 169.61 43.881 25.87 14.585 8.599 12.097 7.133 17.513 10.33

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Fig 3: Index value of male P. stridens for (a) Head length (b) Snout length (c) Eye diameter (d) Length of Caudal
peduncle.
Fig 4: Index value of male P. stridens for (a) Head length (b) Snout length (c) Eye diameter (d) Length of Caudal
peduncle.
3.2 Meristic Characters
Meristic formula: D, XII + 14-16; A, III + 9; STL, 9-10
(1) 23-26; LL, 57-60; GR, 15-16
Diagnosis: Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays
(total): 14-16; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9; Lateral
lines scales 57-60. (Tab. 1).
Silvery, darker above, with 4 stripes along body. Upper
opercle with a dark blotch and a stripe. Pectoral fin tip
when vented, equal or reaching past the pelvic fin tip.
Body oblong and compressed. Dorsal fin deeply
notched its origin on vertical line of pectoral fin base.
Penultimate dorsal spine much smaller than ultimate.
Second anal spine larger and thicker than first and third
spines. Caudal fin moderately forked. Two pores and a
median pit on the chin. Small ctenoid scales. Body -
yellowish silvery-gray with white belly. Three
longitudinal brown yellow-gold stripes. Black spot on
the upper margin of operculum.
Morphometric indices in % per length groups (TL)
of male P. stridens
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
50-59
90-99
100-109
110-119
120-129
140-149
150-159
160-169
170-179
180-189
190-199
Size groups (TL)
Percentage of different
morphometric indices
%H.L
%Sn.L
%E.D
%C.P
Morphometric indices in % length groups (TL) of
female P. stridens
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
90-99
100-109
110-119
120-129
130-139
140-149
150-159
160-169
170-179
180-189
190-199
200-209
210-219
Size groups (TL)
Percentage of different
morphometric indices
%H.L
%Sn.L
%E.D
%C.P

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4. Conclusion
The morphometric measurements and meristic counts
confirmed that the test organism is Pomadasys stridens
and it predominantly exists in Karachi coast.
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from Karachi Coast, Pakistan. Journal of Zoology Studies. 2014; 1(4):01-06.
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