Sagittal otolith morphology and biometric relationships of three snakehead species from the upper Brahmaputra Basin, India

Sonowal Et Al., Jyotirmoy

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2021.193356

Sagittal otolith morphology and biometric relationships of three snakehead species from the upper Brahmaputra Basin, India

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Jyotirmoy Sonowal et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2021.193356

Abstract

Morphometrics of sagittal otolith of three snakeheads species; Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793), Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822) and Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) from the upper Brahmaputra Basin, India were investigated. The study revealed variations in otolith sizes and shapes among the three species. The largest sagittal otolith was observed in C. striata followed by C. punctata and C. gachua. Evaluation of relationships of total length and fish weight with sagittal length, width and mass indicated that all the three species are inclined towards a particular otolith morphometric character. The findings of the present study provide novel morphological as well as biometric data for predicting the length and weight of the fishes which may serve as an important identification tool for the fishes along with the associated morphometric characters.