A comparative study of morphometric and meristic characters of pikeperch Sander lucioperca (L.) in Iranian waters of Caspian Sea and Aras Dam Lake

The population structure of pikeperch Sander lucioperca was studied in the Iranian waters of Caspian sea and Aras dam lake using the morphometric and meristic characters. Samples were collected from the main fishing areas of this species in Iranian shores of Caspian Sea (Western and Eastern shores of Guilan) and also Aras dam lake. Twenty seven truss distances as well as eye diameter and interorbital width and also 13 meristic counts were measured on each individual. Univariate analysis of variance (One-way ANOVA) revealed significant differences with varying degrees between the means of the three samples for 13 standardized morphometric measurements and 6 meristic counts that showed nearly high significant differences between the three populations. Plotting discriminant functions 1 and 2 revealed a high discrimination between the samples of 3 areas. But for the meristic characters the amount of discrimination was low and the samples of 3 area showed a high overlap. The average of correct assignment of individuals into their original samples for morphometric and meristic characters was 89.5% and 67.5% respectively.