O A RIGINAL RTICLE

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Advances in Environmental Biology, 5(9): 2860-2865, 2011
ISSN 1995-0756
This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Some Morphometric Relationships Of Coral Trouts Plectropomus Pessuliferus And
Plectropomus Areolatus Inhabiting Sudanese Red Sea
1
S.M. Elamin, 1M.A. Ambak, 2M.A. Samoilys and 3M.E. Hamza
1
Faculty of Agrotechnology and Food Science, UMT, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
Coastal Oceans Research and Development – Indian Ocean (CORDIO), Mombasa, Kenya.
3
Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Red Sea University, Port Sudan, Sudan.
2
S.M. Elamin, M.A. Ambak, M.A. Samoilys and M.E. Hamza: Some Morphometric Relationships Of Coral
Trouts Plectropomus Pessuliferus And Plectropomus Areolatus Inhabiting Sudanese Red Sea
ABSTRACT
The present study focused on the morphometric data of Plectropomus pessuliferus “Najil” and Plectropomus
areolatus “Silimani” which emphasize the relationship between body measurements and Total length, to show
correlation and significant differences between species inhabit around Suakin in Sudanese Red Sea. Results also
highlights proportional variations between depth and head length with standard length; snout and pectoral fin length
with head length, to see if they are within the range with the identified species. The study shows high correlation
between total length and other body measurements, as well as significant differences between the two species with
regard to spatial disparity around Suakin.
Key words: Plectropomus, groupers, morphometric, Sudanese Red Sea
Introduction
Sudan marine finfish fisheries account for about 9
percent of the total fish potential of the country and
contributes 8.5 percent of total production (FAO,
2008). Coral trouts ( Plectropomus pessuliferus “Najil”
and Plectropomus areolatus “Silimani” ) are the main
target species for artisanal fishers in Sudanese marine
fisheries. Coral trouts of the genus Plectropomus are
members of the serranid subfamily Epinephelinae,
which are commonly known as groupers [7]. Sea
basses (Serranidae) are among the most important
families of commercially harvested tropical marine
fishes worldwide. Most members of the Epinephelinae
subfamily, in particular, are heavily exploited and bring
high market prices [2,14] c.f. [1].
Size- free meristics and morphometric characters
are valid tools to identify species, genera and fish stock
units [12]. Morphometric characters are not sensitive to
short-term, local fluctuations, and reflect average
differences over long periods between environmental
factors in different areas [10]. Many statistical
techniques used the morphometric and meristic
characters in classification and discrimination study,
e.g., Ismen, [10], LAWSON, [11], Simon et al., [16]
and Mekkawy and Mohammed, [12].
The morphometric measurements can help in
identification of P. pessuliferus and P. areolatus in
Sudanese Red Sea and also may facilitate the
determination of the locality from where specimens of
the same species came from( in which this species
inhabits).
Materials and Methods
A total of 165 specimens of P. pessuliferus and
262 specimens of P. areolatus were collected during
the period from August 2009 to August 2010 from Port
Sudan fish market. The specimens were believed to be
caught south of Port Sudan about 60 km (around
Suakin). On the average, around 10-20 specimens for
each species belonging to the same area were collected
monthly.
Morphometric measurements followed the
description by FAO, [5] ( fig. 1). The Total length
(TL), standard length (SL), depth (D), girth (G), were
measured with tape to the nearest 0.1cm and head
length (HL), eye diameter (ED), snout, pectoral fin
length (PFL), pelvic fin length (PVFL), caudal
Corresponding Author
S.M. Elamin, Faculty of Agrotechnology and Food Science, UMT, Kuala Terengganu,
Malaysia
E-mail: [email protected] 2861
Adv. Environ. Biol., 5(9): 2860-2865, 2011
peduncle depth (CPD), length of upper jaw (LUJ),
open mouth width (OMW) were measured with
Vernier to the nearest 0.01cm. Some proportions are
adopted from the study e.g. ( D: SL, HL: SL, Snout:
HL, and PFL: HL).
The relationships were plotted by Excel 2007 and
the
variables
analyzed
by
SPSS
17.
Fig. 1: Morphometric measurements taken for P. pessuliferus and P.areolatus around Suakin.
*Modified from FAO [5].
Results and Discussion
All morphometric characters varied between two
species. Descriptive statistics for each measurement
character are given in Table 1. There was high
significant differences between the two species in all
morphometric characters (P< 0.000). For P.
pessuliferus and P. areolatus the relationships between
total length and others variables are very strong (P <
0.01), the regression analysis between different
morphometric
character and total length was
calculated ( Table 2and figs. 2-12). The correlation
coefficient value (R-value) showed that high
significant at (P< 0.01). Some body proportions are
adopted from study (Table 3). The proportions showed
that they are significant differences between the two
species.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of different body measurements for P. pessuliferus and P.areolatus around Suakin.
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus
Morphometric
Character
Min-Max
Mean±SE
Min-Max
T.L
32.60-90.00
56.90±0.94
24.5-57.6
Mean±SE
38.77±0.43
S.L
26.70-75.00
46.29±0.79
20.2-48.5
32.11±0.36
H.L
8.92-28.00
16.25±0.30
6.84-17.65
11.11±0.13
E.D
1.35-2.97
2.04±0.02
1.12-2.17
1.63±0.01
D
9.00-28.50
16.62±0.34
6.1-18.2
10.84±0.14
G
19.00-61.00
34.13±0.68
13.7-36.0
22.45±0.27
Snout
2.30-9.00
4.78±0.10
1.51-4.60
2.76±0.04
PFL
4.30-11.24
7.15±0.12
2.98-8.11
5.16±0.06
PVFL
3.92-10.10
6.49±0.11
2.87-6.51
4.48±0.05
CPD
2.98-9.00
5.16±0.09
2.08-5.73
3.83±0.04
LUJ
3.92-12.50
7.27±0.14
3.00-8.33
5.11±0.07
OMW
3.44-11.00
6.34±0.10
2.83-6.43
4.65±0.05
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Table 2: Regression analysis between the different body measurements for P. pessuliferus and P.areolatus around Suakin.
Correlates
Species
a-value ± SE
b- value ± SE
R-value
P. pessuliferus
0.729 ± 0.012
1.027 ± 0.004
0.999**
TL Vs SL
P. areolatus
0.788 ± 0.017
1.014 ± 0.006
0.995**
P. pessuliferus
0.194 ± 0.007
1.095 ± 0.010
0.994**
TL Vs HL
P. areolatus
0.224 ± 0.008
1.067 ± 0.010
0.988**
P. pessuliferus
0.179 ± 0.020
0.603 ± 0.027
0.864**
TL Vs E.D
P. areolatus
0.195 ± 0.016
0.582 ± 0.022
0.855**
P. pessuliferus
0.135 ± 0.010
1.189 ± 0.019
0.980**
TL Vs D
P. areolatus
0.185 ± 0.013
1.112 ± 0.019
0.966**
P. pessuliferus
0.312 ± 0.021
1.160 ± 0.016
0.984**
TL Vs G
P. areolatus
0.483 ± 0.025
1.049 ± 0.014
0.977**
P. pessuliferus
0.033 ± 0.002
1.231 ± 0.018
0.984**
TL Vs Snout
P. areolatus
0.032 ± 0.003
1.216 ± 0.022
0.960**
P. pessuliferus
0.138 ±0.009
0.976 ±0.016
0.979**
TL Vs PFL
P. areolatus
0.118 ± 0.009
1.032 ± 0.020
0.954**
P. pessuliferus
0.137 ± 0.009
0.954 ± 0.017
0.976**
TL Vs PVFL
P. areolatus
0.174± 0.011
0.889 ± 0.017
0.954**
P. pessuliferus
0.080 ± 0.007
1.031 ± 0.021
0.969**
TL Vs CPD
P. areolatus
0.127 ± 0.010
0.931 ± 0.022
0.935**
P. pessuliferus
0.075 ± 0.003
1.130 ± 0.009
0.995**
TL Vs LUJ
P. areolatus
0.072 ± 0.004
1.166 ± 0.013
0.983**
P. pessuliferus
0.179 ± 0.023
0.882 ± 0.032
0.909**
TL Vs OMW
P. areolatus
0.240 ± 0.030
0.810 ± 0.034
0.826**
**
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of different body proportions for P. pessuliferus and P.areolatus around Suakin.
Body proportion
Species
Present study
FAO (1993)
Min-Max
Mean±SE
Min-Max
SL: D
P. pessuliferus
2.31-3.50
2.81±0.01
2.90-3.90
P. areolatus
2.50-3.41
2.98±0.01
2.90-3.90
S.L: HL
P. pessuliferus
2.63-3.17
2.86±0.01
2.70-3.10
P. areolatus
2.49-3.20
2.90±0.01
2.70-3.10
H.L: Snout
P. pessuliferus
3.00-4.33
3.42±0.01
2.80-3.60
P. areolatus
2.90-4.79
4.07±0.02
2.80-3.60
HL: PFL
P. pessuliferus
1.87-2.67
2.26±0.01
1.90-2.30
P. areolatus
1.89-2.91
2.16±0.01
1.90-2.30
30
80
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.7285x1.0271
R² = 0.9974
P. areolatus y = 0.7882x1.0135
R² = 0.991
70
60
Mean
3.40
3.40
2.90
2.90
3.20
3.20
2.10
2.20
P. areolatus y = 0.2242x1.0665
R² = 0.9763
25
R2-value
0.997
0.991
0.988
0.976
0.747
0.731
0.960
0.932
0.969
0.954
0.968
0.921
0.958
0.909
0.953
0.909
0.939
0.875
0.989
0.967
0.826
0.683
P. pessuliferus y = 0.194x1.095
R² = 0.9877
S.L (Cm)
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 40
30
H.L (Cm)
20
50
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 15
10
20
5
10
0
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 2: Shows relationship between standard length and
total length of P. pessuliferus around Suakin.
0
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 3: Shows relationship between head length and
total length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus
around Suakin.
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3.5
3
30
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.1789x0.6026
R² = 0.7471
P. areolatus y = 0.1945x0.5822
R² = 0.7308
P. areolatus y = 0.1852x1.1118
R² = 0.9323
25
P. pessuliferus y = 0.1352x1.1891
R² = 0.96
20
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 2
D (Cm)
E.D (Cm)
2.5
1.5
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 15
10
1
5
0.5
0
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
0
20
40
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 4: Shows relationship between eye diameter and total
length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus around
Suakin
80
100
Fig. 5: Shows relationship between Depth and
total length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus
around Suakin
70
10
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.3123x1.1601
R² = 0.9686
40
P. pessuliferus
30
P. areolatus 8
7
Snout (Cm)
50
P. areolatus y = 0.0321x1.216
R² = 0.921
9
P. areolatus y = 0.4833x1.0489
R² = 0.9541
60
G (Cm)
60
T.L (Cm)
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.0329x1.2305
R² = 0.9679
6
5
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 4
3
20
2
10
1
0
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
0
20
T.L (Cm)
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 6: Shows relationship between Girth and total length Fig. 7: Shows relationship between Snut and total length
of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus around Suakin
of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus around Suakin
10
pectoral fin length (Cm)
12
P. areolatus y = 0.1179x1.0323
R² = 0.9093
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.1381x0.9764
R² = 0.958
8
6
P. pessuliferus
4
P. areolatus 2
8
6
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 4
2
0
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 8: Shows relationship between Girth and total length of
P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus around Suakin.
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.1372x0.9544
R² = 0.9528
P. areolatus y = 0.1735x0.8887
R² = 0.9093
10
Pelvic fin length (Cm)
12
0
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 9: Shows relationship between Snout and total
length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus
around Suakin.
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14
10
P. areolatus y = 0.1268x0.9312
R² = 0.8751
8
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.0798x1.031
R² = 0.9394
7
6
5
P. pessuliferus
4
P. areolatus y = 0.0716x1.1661
R² = 0.9665
12
length of upper jaw (Cm)
caudal peduncle depth (Cm)
9
P. areolatus 3
2
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.0752x1.13
R² = 0.9891
10
8
6
P. pessuliferus
P. areolatus 4
2
1
0
0
0
20
40
60
80
0
100
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 10: Shows relationship between pelvicfin length and Fig. 11: Shows relationship between pelvicfin length and
total length of P. areolatus and P. pessulifer
total length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus
around suakin.
around suakin.
12
P. areolatus y = 0.2401x0.8095
R² = 0.6829
Open mouth widith (Cm)
10
P. pessuliferus
y = 0.1793x0.8818
R² = 0.8256
8
6
P. pessuliferus
4
P. areolatus 2
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
T.L (Cm)
Fig. 12: Shows relationship between open mouth width and total length of P. areolatus and P. pessuliferus around
suakin.
Discussion:
Analysis of the morphometric characters are
important for the identification of any fish species
[3,4,9,13]. C.f. [15]. Meristic and morphometric
features were used since they are still dependable tools
to characterize fish species especially on the field and
they are sensitive to any environmental changes [8].
C.f. (Omoniyi and Agbon, 2008). All morphometric
characters of P. pessuliferus are larger than those of P.
areolatus (Table 1). In the present study all
relationships of morphogenetic measurements against
the total length appeared that there is a strong
correlation
(Table
2).
The
morphogenetic
measurements for the P. pessuliferus and P. areolatus
around Suakin showed that these species significantly
different. The patterns of differences in the
morphogenetic characters between these species may
be considered in term of their mode of growth, this
found by Mekkawy and Mohammed, [12] who studied
the morphometric and meristics of the three
epinepheline
species:
(Cephalopholis
argus,
Cephalopholis miniata and Vriola louti) from Red Sea.
Some body proportions are adopted from the study
(Table 3), showed that all propositions means are
compatible with FAO, [5] Records, except for HL:
Snout which equals 4.07 and is larger than FAO,
(1993) which is maximum value is 3.60. The
correlations of these indices with TL and SL showed
significant correlation at 0.01 level. Except for the
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index of HL: PLF, which showed no significance, all
indices for P. pessuliferus and P. areolatus are vary
significantly.
7.
Conclusion:
8.
All Morphometric measurements have high
correlation with total length. There are significant
differences in the morphometric measurements and
body proportions between P. pessuliferus and P.
areolatus around Suakin. Majority of body proportions
for the two species conforms with FAO, [5]
Identifications, except for HL: Snout. These variations
between these two species are important and critical
criteria for any fisheries management endeavor for P.
pessuliferus and P. areolatus in Sudanese Red Sea.
Acknowledgement
Author acknowledges Red Sea University, UMT,
also I gratefully acknowledge assistance in samples
measurements by, O. Mogera, M. Mostafa, N. Hassan,
I. Mokhtar, N. Mohamed, H. Ezeddin, H.Omer and E.
Majdi.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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