Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka

Morphological variation of the euryhaline cichlid fish Etroplus suratensis (Bloch) from six geographically apart estuarine localities along the southern and western coasts of Sri Lanka was studied. Significant heterogeneity in morphology of the cichlid were found with respect to nine morphometric c...

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Main Author: K. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ruhuna 2007-09-01
Series:Ruhuna Journal of Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rjs.ruh.ac.lk/index.php/rjs/article/download/40/34
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author K. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama
author_facet K. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama
author_sort K. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama
collection DOAJ
description Morphological variation of the euryhaline cichlid fish Etroplus suratensis (Bloch) from six geographically apart estuarine localities along the southern and western coasts of Sri Lanka was studied. Significant heterogeneity in morphology of the cichlid were found with respect to nine morphometric characters (n=218). Fish of Nilwala estuary and Garanduwa lagoon were not significantly different in morphology, yet they show discernible differences from the other four samples (Kahanda lagoon, Chilaw lagoon, Walawe estuary and Koggala lagoon) with respect to the most of the studied characters. Concordant results were found by multivariate analysis of the sizecorrected morphological data as well. Three functions were significant in discriminating the populations of which the first two functions accounted for 95% of the covariance (CV1 85.4 % and CV2 9.7%). The function with the greatest discriminatory power (CV1) can clearly separate samples of Nilwala estuary (L5) and Garanduwa lagoon (L6) from the rest of the samples, while the magnitude of the discrimination between the latter samples is much smaller. Classification functions could correctly classify an average of 65.7% of the individuals into their respective a priori population units. No evidence was found for isolation-by-distance model. The results suggest that E. suratensis populations in some of the studied estuarine localities maintain significant morphological heterogeneity, and the morphological variation can be used to differentiate some of these populations.
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spelling doaj.art-0cfa018ff573457e96445d63baf5d3c32022-12-22T02:53:26ZengUniversity of RuhunaRuhuna Journal of Science1800-279X1800-279X2007-09-0121-27081Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri LankaK. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama 0Department of Zoology, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri LankaMorphological variation of the euryhaline cichlid fish Etroplus suratensis (Bloch) from six geographically apart estuarine localities along the southern and western coasts of Sri Lanka was studied. Significant heterogeneity in morphology of the cichlid were found with respect to nine morphometric characters (n=218). Fish of Nilwala estuary and Garanduwa lagoon were not significantly different in morphology, yet they show discernible differences from the other four samples (Kahanda lagoon, Chilaw lagoon, Walawe estuary and Koggala lagoon) with respect to the most of the studied characters. Concordant results were found by multivariate analysis of the sizecorrected morphological data as well. Three functions were significant in discriminating the populations of which the first two functions accounted for 95% of the covariance (CV1 85.4 % and CV2 9.7%). The function with the greatest discriminatory power (CV1) can clearly separate samples of Nilwala estuary (L5) and Garanduwa lagoon (L6) from the rest of the samples, while the magnitude of the discrimination between the latter samples is much smaller. Classification functions could correctly classify an average of 65.7% of the individuals into their respective a priori population units. No evidence was found for isolation-by-distance model. The results suggest that E. suratensis populations in some of the studied estuarine localities maintain significant morphological heterogeneity, and the morphological variation can be used to differentiate some of these populations.http://rjs.ruh.ac.lk/index.php/rjs/article/download/40/34Cichlidmorphometryphenotypic variationpartial isolation.
spellingShingle K. B. Suneetha Gunawickrama
Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
Ruhuna Journal of Science
Cichlid
morphometry
phenotypic variation
partial isolation.
title Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
title_full Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
title_short Morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid Etroplus suratensis (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Sri Lanka
title_sort morphological heterogeneity and population differentiation in the green chromid etroplus suratensis pisces cichlidae in sri lanka
topic Cichlid
morphometry
phenotypic variation
partial isolation.
url http://rjs.ruh.ac.lk/index.php/rjs/article/download/40/34
work_keys_str_mv AT kbsuneethagunawickrama morphologicalheterogeneityandpopulationdifferentiationinthegreenchromidetroplussuratensispiscescichlidaeinsrilanka