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

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.