Morphometric and meristic characteristics of pabda catfish (Ompok pabda) reared in biofloc and traditional culture system

Abstract

This study analysed morphometric and meristic characteristics of Ompok pabda from

two distinct culture systems, namely biofloc and traditional. Fish samples (90 days

old) collected from both culture systems were reared in indoor tanks. Thirty-one morphometric

and seven meristic characteristics were measured and analysed. The study

showed that the morphometric measurements of various body parts depended on

body length. A significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation was observed between total

length (TL) and standard length, fork length (FL), highest body depth (HBD), lowest

body depth, length of anal base (LAB), post dorsal length (PsDL) and length of

caudal fin of fishes from both systems. However, most of the parameters in biofloc

technology showed stronger relations than the traditional ones. Further, principal

component analysis revealed significant variation across the samples for 60.43% contribution

by TL, FL, head length, pre orbital length, LAB, post orbital length, PsDL

and HBD in the first PC. Regarding meristic features, namely, anal fin ray, dorsal fin

ray, ventral fin ray, pectoral fin ray and branchiostegal ray were found to be significantly

varied between the fishes of the two culture systems. Altogether, the variation

observed in morphometric and meristic data between the fishes of the two systems

has revealed the role of bioflocs. The results of the present investigation might be key

features for determining the morphology and growth status as well as for producing

consumer-acceptable/preferred O. pabda in the biofloc system.