International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies
2019, Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part B
Morphological characterization of the Reticulate Knifefish Papyrocranus afer (Gunther 1868) from Lekki Lagoon
Author(s): FV Oluwale and Ugwumba AAA
Abstract: Morphological discreteness of
Papyrocranus afer was studied using truss morphometric measurements utilizing 8 landmarks corresponding to 16 distances on the body, 14 traditional morphometric characters, 10 meristic counts and form factor to ascertain the population characteristics in Lekki Lagoon. Sample (n=1,156) for the study ranged from 5.2 – 75.9 cm total length and weighed 10.9 - 1958.4 g. Two Principal Components (PC) were extracted from Principal Component Analysis both accounting for 82.81% of total variance in size-corrected truss morphometric variables. The PC1 showed high loading (72.8%) for measurements on the posterior region of the fish, while PC2 showed low loadings (9.1%) for variables in the head region. The lower variation accounted for by PC2 suggests conserved variables that could be of taxonomic importance in this species. Form factor of males and females (0.001) confirmed eel-like body form for
P. afer in Lekki Lagoon.
Pages: 90-96 | 865 Views 151 DownloadsDownload Full Article: Click Here
How to cite this article:
FV Oluwale, Ugwumba AAA. Morphological characterization of the Reticulate Knifefish Papyrocranus afer (Gunther 1868) from Lekki Lagoon. Int J Fish Aquat Stud 2019;7(2):90-96.
