Meristic Variations in Two Congeneric Snow Trouts <i>Schizothorax niger </i>(Heckel 1838) and <i>Schizothorax curvifrons</i>(Heckel 1838) from Dal Lake, Kashmir

Abstract

A simple yet useful criterion based on meristics is used to differentiate the two congeneric snow trout fish species Schizothorax niger Heckel 1838 and Schizothorax curvifrons Heckel 1838 from Dal Lake, Kashmir. Principal component and test of significance were used to investigate meristic differences between these two species. The purpose of this study was to appropriate identification of the twospecies and assigning them to distinct genetic groups. Eleven meristic traits (dorsal fin spine, dorsal fin rays, pectoral fin spine, pectoral fin ray, ventral fin spine, ventral fin ray, anal fin spine, anal fin ray, caudal fin rays, lateral line scales, number of gill rakers externally on the first gill arch) were studied in 180 fish specimens. The test of significance of meristic traits among S. niger and S.curvifrons revealed that four meristic characters namely dorsal fin rays, ventral fin rays, lateral line scales, number of gill rakers externally on the first gill arch were significantly different (p < 0.05) between S. niger and S. curvifrons. PCA revealed that the first three components together explained 60.51% of total variance. The meristic characters were also counted to draw the fin formula of thesefish species. This study provides useful information to support taxonomic identification based on meristic counts.