Intra- and inter- population comparison of morphological characteristics of Caspian vimba Vimba persa (Pallas, 1814) in the Southern Caspian Sea

To determine inter- and intra- population morphological variation of Caspian vimba (V. persa), a total of 135 specimens were caught by cast net and beach seine in southern Caspian from Gorganrud and Valiabad rivers and Larim and Mahmoudabad coastal waters. In the present study, 27 morphometric and 10 meristic characteristics were examined. Based on principal component analysis, linear combination of 27 morphometric and 10 meristic characteristics resulted in factors that showed certain specifications of relationships among characteristics. In morphometric characteristics, 6 factors with 79.26% and in meristic characteristics, 5 factors with 71.86% of phenotypic variation among individuals were chosen and Eigen values were greater than one. Discriminant functional analysis showed high similarity percentages among individuals in different regions. Cluster analysis revealed that Larim and Valiabad populations were separated from the rest of populations regarding morphometric and meristic characteristics, respectively. Significant difference was observed regarding most of morphometric characteristics among the populations, while this significant difference was observed only in a few meristic characteristics among the populations. Principal component analysis, discriminant functional analysis and cluster analysis showed that populations in four regions were not entirely separable. However, it is possible that they are from different populations due to different ecological conditions among study areas.