Assessment of morphometric and meristic characteristics of Garra rufa fish in the Dinawar River, Kermanshah Province

This study was carried out on 194 fish (Garra rufa) during January to March 2014 at eight stations in Dinawar River located in Kermanshah Province, Iran. During this study, 34 morphometric characteristics and 11 meristic traits were measured. Geometric parameters, mortality rate, total amount (0.346), infinite length (L∞=124.57 mm), growth factor (K=0.29), the length and weight and also the exponential function of growth were calculated. The lengthweight relationship was calculated for each season separately, which indicates isometric growth during summer and autumn and also allometric growth during the winter and spring. The length-weight relationship for the whole year was calculated as W= 1/000095L2/97. Male to female sex ratio of 1: 1.44 were calculated for faster growth in males and natural selection is directed towards the elimination of larger samples. Results indicate that the Dinawar River is a proper habitat for spawning and nursery of brood fish. The data was confirmed by the separating of populations between the stations and it seems that fish populations in stations are Panmictic. However, these results need to be verified by further studies on genetic, physiological and osteological characteristics in the populations.