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Short Communication

Morphometric Study of the Genus Garra Found in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

Simi Gogoi1, Mintumoni Pegu1, Moirangthem Kameshwor Singh1,*
  • 0000-0002-8596-7231
1Department of Life Sciences, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh-786 004, Assam, India.

ABSTRACT

Background: The fishes of genus Garra are one of the most abundant and taxonomically confusing groups which requires further studies to evaluate their taxonomical ambiguity. Therefore, the present investigation was conducted on the genus to understand their detailed morphometric and meristic features.

Methods: A total of 122 fish specimens belonging to 10 species were collected from the hill stream rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. Eleven morphometric and six meristic parameters were applied for each fish specimen. Identification key was developed after the detailed examination of morphological features. Fin formula was also generated for each species by counting the meristic characters. Phylogenetic tree was developed using morphological characters to understand the evolutionary relationship among the species.

Result: Present study observed the maximum length (54.8 - 135.0 mm) in G. annandalei and minimum length (64.1 - 70.2 mm) in G. rufa. And this study also confirmed the presence or absence of lobes and tubercles, rostral cap, proboscis, gular disc and fins’ shape as key identifying features. Constant in morphometric measurements and meristic counts reveals the uniqueness of the species which was noticed from the generation of fin formula. Further, species were assigned with latest IUCN Red data, G. rupecula was identified as NT, 3 species were under NE and 6 species in LC category. Analysis of phylogenetic tree through neighborjoining (NJ) clustering method with bootstraps 100 depicts that G. lissorhynchus, G. rufa and G. rupecula were belonged to the common ancestral group and G. annandalei and G. quadratirostris were distantly related to G. arunachalensis and G. lamta. A strong positive and linear LLRs were found in between TL and other morphometric characters with r value >0.765. SL showed significantly (p<0.01) higher correlation with TL in all the species.

INTRODUCTION

Arunachal Pradesh is a part of Indian Himalayan biodiversity hotspot and home to diverse fish species with high endemism level (Vishwanath, 2021). The state consists of large number of hill streams, rivers and rivulets with variations in altitude and climatic conditions which provide diverse habitats for the high-altitude fishes (Gogoi et al., 2024). The hill stream faunal diversity serves as an integral part of the riverine ecosystem and environmental stability (Mudoi et al., 2022). Considering the availability of fish species, currently 38 species of genus Garra are reported from different hilly terrains of northeast India, among the states Arunachal Pradesh is recognized as home to 17 identified species of genus Garra (Zirkunga et al., 2023). This genus contributes significantly in maintaining the ecological integrity of a hill stream ecosystem through their roles in sustaining the nutrient cycle, habitat creation and controlling algal growth. The conservation of cyprinid fishes Garra (Hamilton 1822) is prime important for preserving the aquatic biodiversity and ecological functions of torrential habitats. They are small to medium sized fishes having a cylindrical, elongated body with modified sucker-like lower lips. The fishes are bottom dwellers and inhabitant to fast flowing waters (Chen et al., 2009). The distribution of tubercles on the snout, the oromandibular features and the proboscis aspect of the Garra species vary morphologically and these differences have been utilized to distinguish between the species within the group (Nebeshwar and Vishwanath, 2017).
       
Fish morphometric and meristic study is a crucial tool for the precise identification of fish species (Cavalcanti et al., 1999). Compared to other vertebrates, fish show greater diversification in terms of morphological features both within and between the populations. Morphometric measurements, statistical analysis and their relationships are pivotal for the taxonomic evaluation of species (Tandon et al., 1993). Fish meristic counts are also used in the development of fin formula for a particular fish species. This variation of fish population in morphometric and meristic traits are also useful in phylogenetic studies. However, the available literature on taxonomical description of Garra is not enough to support the well-developed hypothesis of fish identification, it requires further studies using morphological datasets. Hence, the present study aims to generate comprehensive data on morphometric and meristic characters of Garra species found in Dibang and Noa dihing river of Arunachal Pradesh, NE India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Current investigation was carried out in 2 hill stream rivers of Arunachal Pradesh viz., Dibang (28°05'21"N 95°42'13"E) and Noa dihing (27°31'07"N 95°58'59"E) river (Fig 1). A total number of 122 fish specimens belonging to 10 species were collected using gill and cast net, electrofishing devices and different traditional methods. Seasonally caught (2020 to 2024) fish specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and preserved in 70% alcohol for further analysis. Counts on meristic parameters (soft rays and spines of fins and scales on lateral line) and morphometric measurements such as total length (TL), standard length (SL), body depth (BD), head length (HL), dorsal fin length (DFL), pectoral fin length (PFL), ventral fin length (VFL), anal fin length (AFL) and caudal fin length (CFL) were recorded with the help of digital calliper to the nearest 0.1 mm (Fig 2) (Nebeshwar and Vishwanath, 2013). Statistical analysis such as LLRs, correlation coefficient and construction of phylogenetic tree based on morphological features was developed following SPSS 20.0 and PAST 4.0 software.

Fig 1: Location map of study sites in Arunachal Pradesh, NE India.



Fig 2: Garra sp. showing morphometric measurements .

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the present investigation, an attempt was made to evaluate the morphometric parameters of 10 different species of genus Garra viz., G. annandalei, G. arunachalensis, G. gotyla, G. lamta, G. lissorhynchus, G. parastenorhynchus, G. rufa, G. rupecula, G. stenorhynchus, G. quadratirostris found in Arunachal Pradesh. This genus is one of the most diverse and taxonomically confusing groups of the order Cypriniformes that has yet to be examined for proper evidence of morphological and meristic traits (Zirkunga et al., 2023). In the current study, a total of 11 morphometric parameters were recorded that showed proportionate increase in length with increase in total length (Table 1), among the studied species, G. annandalei measured with the maximum length (54.80 - 135.00 mm) and G. rufa with minimum length (64.10 - 70.24 mm). Similarly, Ujjania et al., (2012) reported positive increase in morphometric parameters with increase in total length of cold-water fish from Bari Talab, Udaipur, India. Same report was also observed on the morphometric parameters of genus Garra in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh (Kanwal and Pathani, 2011; Brraich and Akhter, 2015). Additionally, Basudha et al., (2018) and Zhang et al., (2023) revealed the importance of morphological variation in the identification of freshwater Cyprinidae.

Table 1: Morphometric indices of the genus Garra reported in Arunachal Pradesh, NE India.


       
Identification key was developed by examining the external morphological characteristics such as shape of body and head, eye, structure of mouth, rostral cap and lips, presence of lobes and tubercles in the snout, shape of fins and colour pattern (Fig 3 and Table 2).  In Garra, the morphology of snout and distribution pattern of tubercles in the snout bore significant role in taxonomical differentiation among the species (Sophiya et al., 2020). Considering the morphology of snout, they can be classified as: (i) species with smooth snout (ii) species with transverse lobe (iii) species with proboscis (iv) species with rostral flap and lobe (Ezung et al., 2021). Different species of Garra which was described recently from Northeast India includes: G. gotyla gotyla, G. lamta, G. lissorhynchus, G. arupi, G. nasuta, G. rupecula, G. elongate, G. kempi, G. kimini which differs by the presence of short tubercles on proboscis, transverse groove, variation in fin rays and lateral line scales (Vishwanath, 2021). The current study also confirms the presence of smooth snout with absence of proboscis in G. annandalei, transverse lobe with probosis, rostral flap and lobe in G. arunachalensis, G. gotyla, G. lamta, G. parastenorhynchus, G. rufa, G. rupecula, G. stenorhynchus and G. quadratirostris. Similarly, Cycek et al., (2016) also reported the importance of morphological traits in identification of Garra species from Tigris River system of Southeast Turkey. 

Fig 3: (a) Snout morphology and (b) Oromandibular structures of genus Garra.



Table 2: Reported identification keys and fin formulae of the studied specimens of genus Garra.


       
Fins plays an important role in identification of most of the freshwater fish species (Kullander and Fang, 2004). Generated fin formula of the species was based on the meristic characters such as numbers of spines and rays in the fins and scales present in lateral line (Table 2). Arunachalam et al., (2013) reported that single branched pectoral fin ray was the main distinguishing character of Garra present in the Indian subcontinent. In this study, all the species of Garra had atleast one branched ray in the pectoral fin, whereas, in case of G. annandalei both pectoral and caudal fin was deeply serrated. G. lissorhynchus showed the presence of W-shaped band on the caudal-fin and absence of scales near the dorsal fin. This finding was similar with the characters described by Hora (1921) and Bhakta et al., (2022). Additionally, Rath et al., (2019) also reported on the importance of fin ray counts, fin shapes, relative sizes and its positioning as distinguishing characters in differentiating Garra species. Further, IUCN status (ver. 2024-1) was also assigned for the studied species, G. rupecula was identified as near threatened (NT) species, G. arunachalensis, G. parastenorhynchus, G. quadratirostris were under not evaluated category (NE) and G. annandalei, G. gotyla, G. lamta, G. lissorhynchus, G. rufa, G. stenorhynchus, were under least concerned (LC) category (Table 2).
       
The regression analysis for LLRs was established to assess the symmetrical growth pattern in relation to TL with SL, BD and HL (Table 3). A significant positive relationship (p<0.01 and 0.05) was observed with ‘r’ values > 0.765. The values of coefficient of correlation have been found to be highly significant (p<0.01) for total length (TL) and standard length (SL) in all the species of genus Garra. Similarly, the value was significantly (p<0.05) higher in all other parameters except for head length (HL) and body depth (BD) in G. annandalei, G. lissorhynchus, G. parastenorhynchus and G. rufa (Table 3). The analysis from regression equation clearly revealed that the lengths of the studied morphometric parameters were proportionate to the total length which was similar with the reports of Hossain (2010) and Alam et al., (2014). Further, Brraich and Akhter (2015) observed significant correlation between total length and external body parts in hill stream fish, Crossocheilus latius latius.

Table 3: Length-length relationships (LLRs) between the total length and other body parameters of the studied species of genus Garra.


       
In the present investigation, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on morphometric parameters through neighborjoining (NJ) clustering method with bootstraps 100 which depicts that G. lissorhynchus, G. rufa and G. rupecula were in the common ancestral group. Species such as G. gotyla, G. parastenorhynchus and G. stenorhynchus were found related to each other. Further, the study also reports that G. arunachalensis and G. lamta were closely related species, whereas, G. annandalei and G. quadratirostris were distantly related to G. arunachalensis and G. lamta (Fig 4). Similar studies were also conducted on Selangat fish from Kelabat Bay and Tukak Strait, Indonesia where 12 morphometric characters confirmed the significance of morphometric variables in construction of phylogenetic tree (Aisyah and Syarif, 2019). Further, reports on evolution of bony fishes using multi-locus phylogenetic analysis found the remarkable importance of morphological factors (Broughton et al., 2013). Betancur-R et al., (2013) also used the systematic concepts of construction of phylogenetic tree based on morphology to describe the relationships among fish lineages. Besides, Muser and Wagner (2015) from their study claimed that the stability and accuracy of phylogenetic trees constructed through molecular data set could be influenced by the morphological data.

Fig 4: Phylogenetic tree based on morphometric parameters of the studied species of genus Garra.

CONCLUSION

The current study has provided additional data on the morphological characters of genus Garra found in the hill stream rivers of Arunachal Pradesh. The morphological characters such as presence and absence of lobes, tubercles, rostral cap, transverse groove, gular disc appears to be the key identifying features of the genus Garra. Linear length-length relationship was observed between the dependent character (TL) and other independent body characters. Constant in morphometric measurements and meristic counts of each fish reveals the uniqueness among the species of the genus which is also evident from the generation of fin formulae. Morpho-Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the evolutionary relatedness among the species.
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Authors are grateful to the Department of Life Sciences, Dibrugarh University for providing necessary facility and CSIR, New Delhi for providing Junior Research Fellowship to Mintumoni Pegu for carrying out the present research work.
 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
 

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