Meristic and Morphometric Characteristics of Crossocheilus diplochilus (Heckel, 1838) from the Poonch Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India

2 Abstract: The present study aims to describe the meristic and morphometric characteristics of Crossocheilus diplochilus from a tributary of Indus River basin, India. Altogether 41 specimens ranging from 10.0 - 17.0 cm total length (TL) and 12.16 - 41.22 g body weight (BW) were used for the study of the morphometric and meristic characteristics using different local fishing gears. The morphometric characteristics on the head express greater variation in head height (SD=7.46) than those from the body in pre-anal fin length (SD=4.14). The highly correlated body parameter in relation to total length was standard length (r=0.996) and distance from anal fin to caudal fin base was found least correlated (r=0.804) and strong correlations were observed between head length and pre-orbital length (r=0.931) and least correlation between head length and head height (r=0.829). Even though the values of correlation coefficient (r) vary between 0.804 (distance from anal fin to caudal fin base) and 0.996 (standard length), they are all strongly significant (P<0.001). The correlation analysis shows that all morphometric traits change proportionally with increase in the total length. These results generate the baseline data on morphometry of C. diplochilus which help in easy identification and will help in the development of a strategy for conservation of the natural stocks of C. diplochilus in Indus basin, India.