Morphometric and Genetic Analyzes of Indian Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from Peninsular India

Abstract

A holistic approach, combining one phenotypic and two genotypic methods, was adopted
\nto analyze possible population differences in Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from
\nselected centers in the East and West coasts of India. Principal component analysis of truss
\nlandmark variables revealed that the area encompassing depth between the origin of anal and
\norigin of second dorsal and caudal peduncle depth has high component loadings. Bivariate scatter
\nplots of principal components showed a great degree of morphometric homogeneity between
\nIndian mackerel populations from Mandapam, Kochi and Karwar. Clustering pattern of
\npolypeptide markers revealed relatively greater population homogeneity among Mandapam fish
\n(58%) than Kochi samples (33%). The three random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers
\nused in the present study have generated a total of 59 loci varying in size from 560 to
\n4500 bp. None of the populations from Mandapam, Kochi and Karwar showed RAPD fragments
\nof fixed frequencies, to be treated as population-specific markers. No significant differences
\nwere found among the three populations.