Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2018; 6(2): 1877-1880 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2018; 6(2): 1877-1880 © 2018 JEZS Received: 22-01-2018 Accepted: 23-02-2018 Ashish Kumar Maurya Narendra Deva University of Agri. & Tech. Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Laxmi Prasad Narendra Deva University of Agri. & Tech. Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Ravi Kumar ICAR-National Research Centre on Integrated Farming, Piprakothi, Motihari, Bihar, India Shakila Khan Narendra Deva University of Agri. & Tech. Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Correspondence Ashish Kumar Maurya Narendra Deva University of Agri. & Tech. Kumarganj, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, Morphometric relationships and meristic characteristics of ticto barb Pethia ticto (Hamilton, 1822) from Gomti River, Uttar Pradesh Ashish Kumar Maurya, Laxmi Prasad, Ravi Kumar and Shakila Khan Abstract The present study aims to illustrate the morphometric relationships and meristic characteristics of ticto barb, Pethia ticto from Gomti River, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A total of 90 specimens ranging from 3790 mm in total length and 0.82-10.37g body weight were used for morphometric and meristic studies. The sampling was done on monthly basis from June 2015 to May 2016 using different fishing gears as cast net, gill net and drag net having mesh size of about 1.0-2.0 cm. A total of 15 morphometric measurements and 8 meristic characters were considered for the present study. The standard length and fork length was found to be 77.98% and 89.27% of the total length, respectively. The head length, dorsal fin length, pectoral fin length, anal fin length and snout length were calculated as 24.17%, 20.96%, 16.64%, 13.76% and 7.04% of the total length respectively. The pre-orbital length and post orbital length was calculated as 7.07% and 11.78% of the total length, respectively. The fin formulae of P. ticto was found to be as dorsal, D III, 8; pectoral, P 1 I, 12-14; pelvic, P2 III, 5; anal, A II-III, 5 and caudal, C X, 910. The present study will be helpful in identification of the species and linear measurements can be used to determine population dynamics and health status of P. ticto in its natural habitat. Keywords: Pethia ticto, Morphometric, Meristic, Gomti River 1. Introduction A Pethia ticto (Ham. 1822) is small indigenous subtropical cyprinid fish species. It is commonly known as “ticto barb” or “two spot barb”. It is native to India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand [1]. It is found in still, shallow, marginal waters of lakes and rivers, usually with muddy bottoms. It is an omnivorous fish mainly feeding on small crustaceans, insects and plankton. It grows to a maximum length of 100 mm [1]. It is a very popular barb among freshwater ornamental fishes [1]. P. ticto is a considerable source of animal protein and micro-nutrients in the diet of rural poors and landless people [2]. P. ticto has been described as threatened species in Bangladesh [3] and in India the fish has been categorized as low risk near threatened [4, 5]. The fish has its own importance in maintaining the equilibrium of the ecosystem and plays a vital role in balancing the food chain of an ecosystem. Identifying a fish is a preliminary approach to carry on any research. Morphometric measurements and meristic characters are considered as easiest and authentic methods for the identification of specimen which is termed as morphological systematics [6] and deriving statistical relationship among them are essential for taxonomic work [7] and taxonomic status [8] . These characters are helpful for species recognition and classification [9-11]. The morphometric characters of a fish species are also used to compare life history and morphological trends of populations across regions [12-14]. These relationships between various body parts of fish can be used to assess the well being of individuals and to determine the possible difference between separate unit stocks of the same species [15]. Length – length relationship are still scarce for most of the tropical and subtropical fish species [16-18]. The body measurements of different fish species and different fish stock may differ considerably. The objective of the present study is to assess the well being of fish in the study area in Gomti river, Uttar Pradesh through morphometric, meristic characteristics and length- length relationship. India ~ 1877 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Study area The present study was carried out between latitude 26 029N and longitude 81044E, 751m (msl) in Gomti River near Jagdishpur of Sultanpur district Uttar Pradesh, India. 2.2 Collection of specimen and sampling schedule The study was conducted from June 2015 to May 2016. A total of 90 specimens were used in the present study for the aforesaid purpose. There different types of fishing gears such as cast net, gill net and drag net with a mesh size of about 1.52.0 cm were employed to collect the fish species. Simple random sampling method has been used for the collection of specimens. The freshly landed specimens were immediately preserved in 10% formaldehyde solution and were labeled properly. 77.98% and 89.27% of the total length, respectively. Similar results were obtained by [21] wherein the standard length and fork length were calculated as 76.5% and 88.6% of total length, respectively. The head length, dorsal fin length, pectoral fin length, anal fin length and snout length was calculated as 24.17%, 20.96%, 16.64%, 13.76% and 7.04% of the total length respectively. The pre-orbital length and post orbital length were calculated as 7.07% and 11.78% of the total length, respectively. The different morphometric measurements and relationship have been presented in Table 1. The mean length of different morphometric traits is represented in Fig. 1. Table 1: Morphometric measurements of P. ticto specimens (n=90) and relationship among them from Gomti River, Uttar Pradesh. Measurement 2.3 Morphometric measurements and meristic counts The specimens were then brought to the college laboratory to examine morphometric and meristic characters following the methodology as per [19, 20]. Total length was measured from anterior most part of snout to the longest part of caudal fin. Standard length was measured from snout to the origin of caudal fin. Length from snout to the point of bifurcation of caudal fin was recorded as fork length. Head length was measured as length from snout to posterior most part of operculum. Distance from tip of upper jaw to anterior margin of fleshy orbit is snout length. Dorsal/Pectoral/Anal fin length was measured straight between origin point of these fins to their extreme tip. Pre-orbital length was recorded as the straight line distance from the tip of the snout to the anterior margin of the orbit while post-orbital length was the straight line distance measured from the posterior margin of the eye to the tip of opercular bone. Specimens were measured using scale up to the nearest 0.1 cm. The total number of the fin rays and scales in different body parts (including the lateral line) were counted by using the magnifying glass. 3. Result & discussion Pethia ticto is a small sized fish having silver colour elongated and strongly compressed body. Mouth is small and terminal in position. The fish has thick lips and do not have barbels. The fish has two black spots, one above the pectoral fin and other on the central point of caudal peduncle. The first one extending over 3rd and 4th scales and second one over 18th and 19th scales of the lateral line. The maximum total length of the fish recorded to be 90 mm, while [1] have reported maximum total length upto 100 mm. In the present study, the total length varied from 37-90 mm (mean ± SD = 62.64 ± 9.90). The standard length and fork length were found to be Total Length Fork Length Standard Length Head Length Dorsal Fin Length Pectoral Fin Length Anal Fin Length Post Orbital Length Pre-Orbital Length Snout Length Min. (mm) 37 34 30 10 7 6 5 4 3 3 Max. (mm) 90 79 71 21 18 16 12 11 6 6 Mean ± SD 62.64 ± 9.90 55.87 ± 8.67 48.87 ± 7.98 15.04 ± 2.09 13.06 ± 2.20 10.38 ± 1.78 8.58 ± 1.47 7.42 ± 1.64 4.38 ± 0.71 4.36 ± 0.69 % TL 89.27 77.98 24.17 20.96 16.64 13.76 11.78 7.07 7.04 In the current investigation it was recorded that the lateral line is usually incomplete with 23-26 scales in a row whereas [21] reported 25-29 scales in the lateral line of P. ticto from the Ganges River in Bangladesh, moreover [22] reported 22-26 lateral line scales from P. ticto from Manipur, India. The fin formula of P. ticto was dorsal, D III, 8; pectoral, P1 I, 12-14; pelvic, P2 III, 5; anal, A II-III, 5 and caudal, C X, 9-10(Table 2). Similar results for P.ticto have been reported by [20, 22]. It is a well-known fact that morphological characters shows high plasticity in response to differences in environmental conditions, such as food abundance and temperature [23-26]. In general fish demonstrate greater variances in morphological traits both within and between populations than any other vertebrates and are more susceptible to environmentally induced morphological variations [27-28, 25]. During the present study, it has been also observed that the meristic counts are dependent on body size and there is a change in meristic counts as the fish increases in size. The difference in lateral line scales and fin rays count indicated that different locations and environment have a considerable impact on meristic characters. Fig 1: Mean length of the different morphometric traits of P. ticto (Ham.1822) ~ 1878 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies Table 2: Meristic counts of P. ticto specimens (n=90) from Gomti River, Uttar Pradesh Meristic characters Dorsal fin rays Pectoral fin rays Pelvic fin rays Anal fin rays Caudal fin rays Lateral line scale Pre dorsal scale Pre anal scale Number III, 8 I, 12-14 III, 5 II-III, 5 X, 9-10 23-26 9-10 16 4. Conclusion Screening of the literature suggest that limited information is available on the morphometric relationships and meristic characters of this species from Gomti River. The present investigation provides valuable information on the morphometric relationships, meristic counts and stock abundance of P. ticto in Gomti River. This study indicate that P. ticto population is surviving and growing well in the current study location. The P. ticto fish has been described as threatened species in Bangladesh [3] but in India the fish has been categorized as low risk near threatened [4, 5] species. The data presented in this study may contribute to a valuable database of the P. ticto fish species that is necessary for assessing its stock abundance in Gomti River. 5. References 1. Froese R, Pauly D. (Eds). Fishbase World Wide Web electronic publication. Available at: http://www.fishbase.org. 12, January, 2018. 2. Roos N, Wahab MA, Hossain MAR, Thilsted SH. Linking human nutrition and fisheries: Incorporating micronutrient-dense, small indigenous fish species in carp polyculture production in Bangladesh. Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 2007; 28:280-293. 3. IUCN Bangladesh. Red List of Bangladesh. Freshwater Fishes. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 2015, 5. 4. Balasundaram C, Arumugam R, Murugan PB. Fish diversity of Kolli hills, Western Ghats, Salem district, Tamil Nadu. Zoos Print Journal. 2000; 16:403-406. 5. Sarkar UK, Gupta BK, Lakra WS. Biodiversity, ecohydrology, threat status and conservation priority of the freshwater fishes of River Gomti, a tributary of river Ganga (India). The Environmentalist. 2010; 30:3-17. 6. Nayman. Growth and Ecology of Fish Population. Journal of Animal Ecology. 1965; 20:201-219. 7. Narejo NT. Morphometric characters and their relationship in Gudusia chapra (Hamilton) from Keenjhar lake (Distt: Thatta), Sindh. Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 2010; 42(1):101-104. 8. Ihssen PE, Booke HE, Casselman JM, McGlade JM, Payne MR, Utter FM. Stock identification: Materials and methods. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 1981; 38:1838-1855. 9. Bagenal JB, Tesch FW. Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Freshwaters. Blackwell Scientific publication, Oxford, 1978, 361. 10. Jayaram KC. The Freshwater Fishes of the Indian Region. Narendra Publishing House, Delhi, 1981, 551. 11. Hossen MA, Hossain MY, Pramanik MNU, Nawer F, Khatun D, Parvin MF et al. Morphological characters of Botia lohachata. Journal of Coastal Life Medicine. 2016; 4:689-692. 12. Hossain MY, Hossen MA, Pramanik MNU, Nawer F, Rahman MM, Sharmin S et al. Life-history traits of the endangered carp Botia dario (Cyprinidae) from the Ganges River in northwestern Bangladesh. Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 2017; 49:801-809. 13. Hossain MY, Hossen MA, Iitam MM, Pramanik MNU, Nawer F, Paul AK et al. Biometric indices and size at first sexual maturity of eight alien fish species from Bangladesh. Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research. 2016; 42:331-339. 14. Elahi N, Yousuf F, Tabassum S, Bahkali AH, El-Shikh M, Hossen MA et al. Life-history Traits of the Blacktrip sardinella, Sardinella melanura (Clupeidae) in the Gwadar, Balochistan Coast, Pakistan. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences. 2017; 46:397-404. 15. King M. Fisheries biology assessment and management. (2nd Ed.), Blackwell Scientific publications, Oxford, 2007, 1-381. 16. Martin-Smith KM. Length/weight relationships of fishes in a diverse tropical fresh-water community, Sabah, Malaysia. Journal of Fish Biology. 1996; 49:731-734. 17. Ecoutin JM, Albaret JJ, Trape S. Length weight relationships for fish populations of a relatively undistributed tropical estuary: the Gambia. Fisheries Research. 2005; 72:347-351. 18. Hossain MY, Ohtomi J, Ahmed ZF. Morphometric, meristic characteristics and conservation of the threatened fish, Puntius sarana (Hamilton, 1822) (Cyprinidae) in the Ganges River, northwestern Bangladesh. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science. 2009; 9:223-225. 19. Jayaram KC. The Freshwater Fishes of the Indian Region. Second Edition. Narendra Publishing House, Delhi, 2010, 616. 20. Talwar PK, Jhingran AG. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries. Oxford & IBH Publishing Company Private Limited, New Delhi, 1991, 291, I. 21. Nawer F, Hossain MY, Hossen MA, Khatun D, Parvin MF, Ohtomi J et al. Morphometric Relationships of the Endangered Ticto barb Pethia ticto (Hamilton, 1822) in the Ganges River (NW Bangladesh) through MultiLinear Dimensions. Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences. 2017; 10(3):199-203. 22. Linthoingambi I, Vishwanath W. Two new fish species of the genus Puntius Hamilton (Cyprinidae) from Manipur, India, with notes on P. ticto (Hamilton) and P. stoliczkanus (Day). Zootaxa. 2007; 1450:45-56. 23. Allendorf FW, Phelps SR. Loss of genetic variation in hatchery stock of cutthroat trout. Transactions of American Fisheries Society. 1988; 109:537-543. 24. Swain DP, Ridell BE, Murray CB. Morphological differences between hatchery and wild populations of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): environmental versus genetic origin. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 1991; 48:1783-1791. 25. Wimberger PH. Plasticity of fish body shape the effects of diet, development, family and age in two species of Geophagus (Pisces, Cichlidae). Biological Journal of Linnean Society. 1992; 45:197-218. 26. Hossain MAR, Nahiduzzaman M, Saha D, Khanam MUH, Alam MS. Landmark-Based morphometric and meristic variations of the endangered carp, Kalibaus Labeo calbasu, from stocks of two isolated Rivers, the Jamuna and Halda and a Hatchery. Zoological Studies. 2010; 49(4):556-563. ~ 1879 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 27. Stearns SC. A natural experiment in life-history evolution: field data on the introduction of mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) to Hawaii. Evolution. 1983; 37:601617. 28. Allendorf FW, Ryman N, Utter F. Genetics and fishery management: past, present and future in population genetics and fisheries management. University of Washington press, Seattle, WA & London, 1987, 1-20. ~ 1880 ~