International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2014): 5.611 Volume 5 Issue 1, January 2016 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Study on Morphometric and Meristic Characters of Acanthopagrusbifasciatus(Forsskål, 1775) from Southern Red Sea, Egypt Usama M. Mahmoud 1 , FahmyI. El-Gammel 2 , Saher F. Mehanna 3 , Samia M. El-Mahdy 4 1 Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University. 2, 3, 4 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Abstract: Based on 120 males (225 – 550mmTL) and62 females (217 – 547 mm TL) of Acanthopagrusbifasciatus collected from southern red Sea (Hurghada to shalateen), the morphometric and meristic characters were investigated. The results proved that, sexual dimorphism in A.bifasciatusfrom the Red Sea sector of Egypt was possible by using morphometric indices. Morphometric characters of the aforementioned species showed allometric growth except AIVCFL for males andCD, DIDCFL, VIAOFLandDIVOFLfor females. No sexual dimorphism was found to be in meristic characters of Acanthopagrusbifasciatus. Keywords: Red Sea, Egypt, Acanthopagrusbifasciatus, morphometric, meristic. 1. Introduction Morphometric characters of fishes were found to be of taxonomic importance in sex, race and species identification by many investigators (Mekkawy, 1987&1994;Mahmoud, 1988, 1991& 1993;Harabawy, 1993& 2000;Khalilet. al. 1983& 1984;Oliveira and Almada, 1995; Osman, 2000;Mekkawy and Mohammad, 2011;Abbaspouret. al., 2013and Safi et. al., 2014). The meristic characters were also found to be valid in sex, race and species identification (Mahmoud and Mekkawy, 1991; Mahmoud, 1991, 1993&2002;Mekkawy, 1991& 1997; Turan, 2004; Mekkawy and Mohammad, 2011 and Abbaspouret. al., 2013). The present study aimed to display sexual dimorphism in the morphometrics and meristics of Acanthopagrusbifasciatus from the Southern Red Sea of Egypt. 2. Materials and Methods Morphometrics: A total of 120 males (225 – 550mm in total length)and62 females (217 – 547 mm in total length) of Acanthopagrusbifasciatus were collected from commercial harbors of southern red Sea (Hurghada to shalateen) during the period January 2015 – December2015. The fish specimens were transported in ice chest to the laboratory where measurements started immediately. For each fish, nineteen morphometric measurements were made on the left side up to the nearest millimeter using divider and a measuring board.They are diagrammatically represented in Fig. (1), the numbers in the figure correspond with those given below: 1- Total length(TL) 2- Fork length (FL) 3- Standard length (SL) 4- Head length (HL) 5- Head depth (HD) 6- Body depth (BD) 7- Eye diameter (ED) 8- Snout Length (SNL) 9- Dorsal fin base length (DFBL) 10-Anal fin base length (AFBL) 11-Caudal peduncle depth (CD) 12-Distance between anal fin insertion and dorsal caudal fin origin (AIDCFL) 13-Distance between dorsal fin insertion and ventral caudal fin origin (DIVCL) 14-Distance between anal fin insertion and ventral caudal fin origin (AIVCFL) 15-Distance between dorsal fin insertion and dorsal caudal fin origin (DIDCFL) 16-Distance between ventral fin insertion and anal fin origin (VIAOFL) 17-Distance between dorsal fin insertion and ventral fin origin (DIVOFL) 18-Distance between dorsal fin origin and anal fin insertion (DOAIFL) 19-Distance between the ventral fin origin and the anal fin origin (VOAOFL) Meristics The following meristic counts were recorded: 1- Number of the Dorsal fin soft rays (DFR) 2- Number of the Anal fin soft rays (AFR) 3- Number of the Caudal fin soft rays (CFR) 4- Number of the Pectoral fin soft rays (PFR) Statistical analysis: The basic statistics of certain morphometric indices (relative to total length, TL) and meristic characters were estimated. The allometric coefficients of the raw morphometric characters and their relationships with fish size (TL) were estimated using power function equation and linear regression model respectively. The type of allometry was evaluated by testifying the significance of the allometric coefficients (b) (b=1, b<1and b>1 for isometry, negative allometry and positive allometry respectively) that Paper ID: NOV153147 1735