Comparison of morphometric and meristic characteristics of Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843) in spring and autumn in the Shapour River, Fars, Iran

This study was conducted to determine morphometric and meristic characteristics of Garra rufa in Shapour River. 120 specimens were caught using sachok in spring and fall, 2012 in order to investigate the effect of season on morphologic parameters between male and female using twenty-four proportional morphometric and ten meristic characters. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (ver. 17) and t test analysis. A meaningful difference in 11 morphometric characters in male (p≤0.05) and 19 morphometric character (p≤0.05) in female were observed. From the ten meristic characters only one in males and two in females showed a significant difference in two seasons. It seems that changeability of morphometric characteristics measured in fish in relation to the changing seasons is more than of meristic characteristics.