Morphological Variations and Diagnostic Characteristics of Chondrostoma regium Populations in Iranian Inland Waters

In the present study, the morphological variations of 162 specimens of Chondrostoma regium (Heckel, 1843) collected from the Beheshtabad, Shalmzar, Karoun, Gandman, Sheikh Ali Khan (Chaharmahal-e Bakhtiari Province), Tof Sefid and Seimareh (Isfahan Province), Khersan, Beshar (Kohgoluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province), Dinevarab, Alvand (Kermanshah Province), Homeil (Ilam Province), Doab, Kafraj (Lorestan Province) and Zab (Kurdistan Province) were analyzed. A total of 27 morphometric and 11 meristic characteristics were assessed. To investigate the morphological variations between the studied populations, morphometric and meristic characteristics were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA). The results of the study showed that 20 morphometric and 10 meristic characteristics had significant differences (p < 0.05). Among the morphometric characteristics, the first two components showed 55.2% of the variation between the individuals. CVA analysis of morphometric characteristics showed that the populations had a great overlap and only the Zab population was separated from the others, whereas in the meristic characteristics, most of the populations were separated from each other. Based on the results, the studied populations of Brond-snout fish showed significant morphological differences and in this species. Meristic characteristics had a higher discriminability than morphometric characteristics.