Stock identification of the Reba carp, Cirrhinus reba: Insight into conventional and truss network-based morphometrics

The floodplains and ox-bow lake located in the south-western region of Bangladesh is currently facing a remarkable decrease in the number of their wild fish stock. Identification of fish stock along with wild and near-threatened fish conservation management is highly crucial. Samples of wild Cirrhinus reba were gathered from Bergobindapur Boar, Jhapa Baor, and Bornir Beel. The stock status of wild C. reba was assessed utilizing conventional and truss network-based morphometric examinations. Discriminant function analyses (DFA), univariate analyses were used. Univariate statistics (ANOVA) showed six out of eight conventional morphometric characters and eleven out of the twenty-two truss-based morphometric characters impressively exhibited significant differences among specimens. Two discriminant functions (1st and 2nd DFs) for both truss and morphometric measurements produced by the (DFA). In DFA, stocks are isolated with a lower extent of overlapping in both truss and morphometric measurements. This breakthrough proposed that there was partial isolation among the three stocks. Due to various hereditary origins, morphological variation among the stocks was noticed. These morphological differences are crucial in making the right decisions for proper management and conservation, as well as mass seed production, to ensure their long-term viability.