Morphometric and meristic comparisons of populations of Qanat tailor fish, Alburnoides qanati Coad & Bogutskaya, 2009 (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae) in Kor River basin Iran

Inter- and intra-population variations of a recently described endemic cyprinid fish Alburnoides qanati Coad and Bogutskaya, 2009 collected from three localities in the Kor River basin, Iran, were studied by applying morphometric and meristic characters using canonical discriminate function analysis (DFA), principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). In DFA, the overall random assignment of individuals into their populations was 96.6% based on all the adjusted morphometric characters, 94.6% for meristic characters, and 100% based on both morphometric and meristic characters, indicating that the original grouped cases were correctly classified and they belonged to three morphologically distinct populations. The first principal component (PC) accounted for 16% and the second PC accounted for 15.8% of the shape variations among the samples. The Cluster analysis revealed a similar pattern of separation of one population from the others. The morphological heterogeneity observed in this species should be considered in conservation management and stock enhancement programs, especially during drought conditions in the region.