Distinguishing Hybrids of Golden Thailand and Malaysian Strains of Climbing Perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792), Using Multivariate Analyses of Morpho-Meristic Traits

Abstract

The climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792), is a commercially important freshwater fish in Southeast Asia. To meet demand, establishing stock development breeding programmes is essential. However, there is a lack of scientific literature on parent-hybrids differences. This study aims to use morphometric characteristics to identify important predictors and determine their heritability to address the knowledge gap. Two strains of A. testudineus and their corresponding hybrid groups, represented by T1–T4 (T1: golden Thai (♀) × golden Thai (♂), T2: golden Thai (♀) × Malaysian (♂), T3: Malaysian (♀) × Malaysian (♂) and T4: Malaysian (♀) × golden Thai (♂)) were used for the experiment. Thirty individuals of each strain were randomly selected from their respective tanks for morphometric characteristics assessment. Twenty-five morphometric measurements were taken, and adjustments were made for body size effects. These measurements were then subjected to multivariate analysis with a 5 % selection intensity for genetic advancement, focusing on body depth and base of anal fin length. The morphometric characters, including postorbital length, lowest body depth,the base of analfin length,total length, standard length, pre-pectoral fin length,the base of pectoralfin length, and base of pelvic fin length based on the canonical coefficient, were identified as distinguishing factors between hybrids and the parental population. The study showed that body length heritability was greater than 60 %, indicating a significant additive genetic effect that surpasses the impact of the environmental effect and thus could be used as a potential characteristic for selective breeding to improve the desired trait.