INTRA-SPECIFIC DIVERSITY OF THE SILVER GRUNT (Pomadasys Hasta) IN THREE LOCATIONS OF BANGLADESH BASED ON MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Morphometric variation is a useful tool for studying a species' population structure. The present study was performed to assess the intra-specific diversity between three stocks of the Silver grunt Pomadasys hasta (Khulna, Satkhira and Patuakhali of Bangladesh).  Length-weight relationship, condition factor and few other morphometrics were analyzed using both univariate and multivariate approaches.  A total of 105 samples were subjected to the analysis (weight (95.05 ±44.22 g) and length (16.18±2.57cm). A total of eleven morphometric traits including standard length (SL), head length (HL), pre dorsal length (Pre DL), dorsal length (DL), pre-anal length (Pre AL) , pre-pelvic length (PreVL) , pre pectoral length (PrePL), pre-orbital length (PrOL), body depth (BD), eye diameter (ED) and  pre orbital length (PreOL) were measured. Significant differences were found in four morphometric measurements including head length (HL % of total length), eye diameter (ED % of HL), dorsal length (DL %) and pre dorsal length (PreDL%). A negative allometric growth was observed, as the slope b was far below 3. The highest value of b was found in Satkhira (2.7) and the lowest value of b was found in Khulna (2.07). Three separate stocks of P. hasta exhibited morphological variations in their attributes. The divergence among the stocks could have resulted from both environmental and genetic variances. The outcomes of the study will be helpful for management and conservation of natural population of Datina (P. hasta) in Bangladesh.