Body Shape Comparison of Kura Bleak (Alburnus filippii) in Aras and Ahar-Chai Rivers Using Geometric Morphometric Approach

摘要

The body shape of two populations of Kura bleak (Alburnus filippii Kessler, 1877) from Aras and Ahar-Chai rivers was compared by geometric morphometric method. A total of 63 specimens of Kura bleak were collected from mainstream of Aras and its tributaries Ahar-Chai. Then, the lateral face of their left side were photographed and 13 landmark-points defined and digitized using TpsDig2 software. The obtained data were analyzed using multivariate analyses. The results revealed a significant difference in the body shape of the studied populations associating with body depth and the tip of the snout. The results also showed a higher morphological variation among the specimens of mainstream of Aras River compared to Ahar-Chai ones indicating availability of more diverse habitats. Thus, in a morphological comparative study of different populations of a single species in different habitats, the morphological variation of every population should be considered as a criterion and application of an exploratory multivariate analysis such PCA can help to better understand the phenotypic variations.