Main Article Content

Abstract

Mudskippers (Oxudercidae) are euryhaline fish found in mudflats, sandy beaches, and mangrove swamps. Owing to the high abundances of mudskipper species in Peninsular Malaysia, the identification process is found challenging. The purpose of this study was to identify selected species of mudskipper from selected mangroves in Terengganu, east coast of Peninsular Malaysia according to morphometrical variations and development of key pictorial of mudskipper. A total of 63 mudskippers were collected using a fish net in Marang (n= 30) and Setiu (n= 33). Quantitative data on the morphometric characteristics of each individual were identified namely Periophthalmus gracilis, P. variabilis and P. argentilineatus. One-way analysis of variance showed significant differences (P<0.05) in 10 out of 16 morphometric characteristics among the three species. In the casewise statistics analysis, 92.1% of the mudskippers were correctly classified into their original groups on average. The canonical variate analysis (CVA) scatter plot showed the segregation of three identified mudskipper species into three distinct groups. In the cluster analysis, UPGMA dendrogram indicated the segregation of the three species into two distinct clades, and P. gracilis and P. variabilis were included in the sister group, whereas P. argentilineatus was in a separate clade. The development of the key pictorial of mudskippers showed that 10 species from five genera were successfully recognized and distinguished by comparing their body parts as key indications. This study will be helpful to researchers acquiring information for identifying mudskippers especially from the genus Periophthalmus.

Keywords

Morphometric Discriminant function analysis Canonical variate analysis Key pictorial development

Article Details

How to Cite
ABDUL RAHMAN, M. A. F., AZMIR, I. A., & HUSSIN, N. J. (2023). Morphological study of selected mudskipper species (Family: Oxudercidae) and development of key pictorial. Iranian Journal of Ichthyology, 9(4), 180–194. https://doi.org/10.22034/iji.v9i4.808

References

  1. Abbasi, K.; Mouludi-Saleh, A. & Eagderi, S. 2021. Morphological diversity of the Caspian Asp, Leuciscus aspius, in the South Caspian Sea basin (Osteichthyes: Cyprinidae). Zoology in the Middle East 67(1): 25-31.
  2. Abbasi, K.; Mouludi-Saleh, A. & Eagderi, S. 2021. The variability of morphometric and meristic characteristics of Urmia chub, Petroleuciscus ulanus (Günther, 1899) in the Mahabd-Chai and Godar-Chai rivers, Lake Urmia basin. Limnology and Freshwater Biology 4: 1156-1159.
  3. Ansari, A.A.; Trivedi, S.; Saggu, S. & Rehman, H. 2014. Mudskipper: A biological indicator for environmental monitoring and assessment of coastal waters. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2(6): 22-33.
  4. Azzurro, E.; Tuset, V.M.; Lombarte, A.; Maynou, F.; Simberloff, D.; Rodríguez‐Pérez, A. & Solé, R.V. 2014. External morphology explains the success of biological invasions. Ecology letters 17(11): 1455-1463.
  5. Barrett, P. 2005. Euclidean distance: raw, normalized, and double-spaced coefficients. The Technical Whitepaper Series 6: 1-26
  6. Boussou, C.K.; Konan, F.K.; Edia, O.; Ouattara, M.; Bony, Y.K.; Ouattara, A. & Gourene, G. 2010. Morphometric analysis of populations of Chromidotilapia guntheri (Sauvage, 1882) (Cichlidae, perciformes) in four coastal rivers of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 5(3): 387-400.
  7. Bray, D.J. 2016. Scartelaos histophorus in Fishes of Australia. http://136.154.202.208/home/species/157 (Accessed on 26 Jun 2021).
  8. Brraich, O.S. & Akhter, S. 2015. Morphometric characters and meristic counts of a fish, Crossocheilus latius latius (Hamilton-Buchanan) from Ranjit Sagar Wetland, India. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies 2(5): 260-265.
  9. Chao, N.L.; Chang, C.W.; Chen, M.H.; Guo, C.C.; Lin, B.A.; Liou, Y.Y.; Shen, K.N. & Liu, M. 2019. Johnius taiwanensis, a new species of Sciaenidae from the Taiwan Strait, with a key to Johnius species from Chinese waters. Zootaxa, 4651(2): 259-270.
  10. Colihueque, N.; Corrales, O. & Yáñez, M. 2017. Morphological analysis of Trichomycterus areolatus Valenciennes, 1846 from southern Chilean rivers using a truss-based system (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae). ZooKeys 695: 135-152.
  11. Craig, C.A. & Bonner, T.H. 2019. Drainage basin checklists and dichotomous keys for inland fishes of Texas. ZooKeys 874: 31-45.
  12. Cruz, C.D.; Salgado, C.C. & Bhering, L.L. 2014. Biometrics applied to molecular analysis in genetic diversity. Biotechnology and Plant Breeding: Applications and Approaches for Developing Improved Cultivars. pp. 47-81.
  13. Daud, S.; Mohammadi, M.; Siraj, S.S. & Zakaria, M. 2005. Morphometric analysis of Malaysian oxudercine goby, Boleophthalmus boddarti (Pallas, 1770). Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science 28(2): 121-134.
  14. Elmer, K.R.; Kusche, H.; Lehtonen, T.K. & Meyer, A. 2010. Local variation and parallel evolution: morphological and genetic diversity across a species complex of Neotropical Crater Lake cichlid fishes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365(1547): 1763-1782.
  15. Ethin, R.; Hossain, M.S.; Roy, A. & Rutegwa, M. 2019. Stock identification of minor carp, Cirrhinus reba, Hamilton 1822 through landmark-based morphometric and meristic variations. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 22(1): 1-8.
  16. Gonzalez-Martinez, A.; De-Pablos-Heredero, C.; González, M.; Rodriguez, J.; Barba, C. & García, A. 2021. Usefulness of Discriminant Analysis in the Morphometric Differentiation of Six Native Freshwater Species from Ecuador. Animals 11(1): 111.
  17. Gonzalez-Martinez, A.; Lopez, M.; Molero, H.M.; Rodriguez, J.; González, M.; Barba, C. and García, A. 2020. Morphometric and Meristic Characterization of Native Chame Fish (Dormitator latifrons) in Ecuador Using Multivariate Analysis. Animals 10(10): 1805.
  18. Gupta, D.; Dwivedi, A.K. & Tripathi, M. 2018. Taxonomic validation of five fish species of subfamily Barbinae from the Ganga river system of northern India using traditional and truss analyses. PloS One 13(10): e0206031.
  19. Gustiano, R. & Pouyaud, L. 2008. Systematic revision of the genera of Pangasiidae (Siluriformes, Ostariophysi). Indonesian Aquaculture Journal 3(1): 13-22.
  20. Haas, T.C.; Heins, D. C. & Blum, M. J. 2015. Predictors of body shape among populations of a stream fish (Cyprinella venusta, Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 115(4): 842-858.
  21. Hamdan, O.; Khali Aziz, H.; Shamsudin, I. & Raja Barizan, R. 2012. Status of mangroves in Peninsular Malaysia. Forest Research Institute Malaysia 153 p.
  22. Hui, N.Y.; Mohamed, M.; Othman, M.N.A. & Tokiman, L. 2019. Diversity and behaviour of mudskippers of Tanjung Piai, Pontian, Johor. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, p. 269.
  23. Immaculate, J. & Jamila, P. 2018. Quality characteristics including formaldehyde content in selected Sea foods of Tuticorin, southeast coast of India. International Food Research Journal 25(1): 293-302.
  24. Jaafar, Z.; Lim, K.K. & Chou, L.M. 2006. Taxonomical and morphological notes on two species of mudskippers, Periophthalmus walailakae and Periophthalmodon schlosseri (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Singapore. Zoological Science 23(11): 1043-1047.
  25. Kanniah, K.D.; Sheikhi, A.; Cracknell, A.P.; Goh, H.C.; Tan, K.P.; Ho, C.S. & Rasli, F.N. 2015. Satellite images for monitoring mangrove cover changes in a fast growing economic region in southern Peninsular Malaysia. Remote Sensing 7(11): 14360-14385.
  26. Keat-Chuan Ng, C.; Aun-Chuan Ooi, P.; Wong, W.-L. & Khoo, G. 2017. A review of fish taxonomy conventions and species identification techniques. Survey in Fisheries Sciences 4(1): 54-93.
  27. Khaironizam, M. & Norma-Rashid, Y. 2003. First record of the mudskipper, Periophthalmodon septemradiatus (Hamilton) (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51(1): 97-100.
  28. Kirsch, J.E.; Day, J.L.; Peterson, J.T. & Fullerton, D.K. 2018. Fish misidentification and potential implications to monitoring within the San Francisco Estuary, California. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 9(2): 467-485.
  29. Lee, H.J.; Martinez, C.A.; Hertzberg, K.J.; Hamilton, A.L. & Graham, J. B. 2005. Burrow air phase maintenance and respiration by the mudskipper Scartelaos histophorus (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae). Journal of Experimental Biology 208(1): 169-177.
  30. McKeown, A.H. & Schmidt R.W. 2013. Geometric morphometrics. In: DiGangi, E.A., Moore, M.K., (Eds), Research Methods in Human Skeletal Biology. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 325-359.
  31. Mir, J.; Sarkar, U.; Dwivedi, A.; Gusain, O. & Jena, J. 2013. Stock structure analysis of Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) across the Ganga basin (India) using a truss network system. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 29(5): 1097-1103.
  32. Mouludi-Saleh, A. & Eagderi, S. 2021. Habitat-associated morphological divergence of Gasterosteus aculeatus in the Southern Caspian Sea Basin. Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions A: Science 45(1): 121-125.
  33. Mouludi-Saleh, A.; Eagderi, S.; Poorbagher, H. & Kazemzadeh, S. 2019. The effect of body shape type on differentiability of traditional and geometric morphometric methods: A case study of Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822). European Journal of Biology 78(2): 165-168.
  34. Mousavi-Sabet, H. & Anvarifar, H. 2013. Landmark-based morphometric variation between Cobitis keyvani and Cobitis faridpaki (Pisces: Cobitidae), with new habitat for C. faridpaki in the southern Caspian Sea basin. Journal of Vertebrate Biology 62(3): 167-175.
  35. Omer, A.S. 2017. Review on Fish Identification Tools and Their Importance in Biodiversity and Fisheries Assessments. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR) 36(6): 118-126.
  36. Polgar, G. & Khaironizam, M.Z. 2008. First record of Periophthalmus walailakae (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae) from Peninsular Malaysia. Cybium 32(4): 349-351.
  37. Polgar, G. & Lim, R. 2011. Mudskippers: Human use, ecotoxicology and biomonitoring of mangrove and other soft bottom intertidal ecosystems. In: Metras JN (ed) Mangroves: ecology, biology and taxonomy. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge. pp. 51-82.
  38. Polgar, G. 2009. Species-area relationship and potential role as a biomonitor of mangrove communities of Malayan mudskippers. Wetlands Ecology and Management 17(2): 157.
  39. Polgar, G. 2012. The mudskipper - Periophthalmus chrysospilos. Retrieved from Mudskipper.it. http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesPages/chry.html (Accessed on 26 Jun 2021)
  40. Polgar, G. 2012. The mudskipper-Periophthalmus walailakae. Retrieved from Mudskipper.it. http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesPages/wala.html (Accessed on 26 Jun 2021).
  41. Polgar, G. 2013. Gobiidae: Oxudercinae. Retrieved from mudskipper.it: mudskipper.it/SpeciesPages/elon.html (accessed 26 Jun 2021).
  42. Polgar, G. 2014. The mudskipper-Boleophthalmus pectinirostris. Retrieved from Mudskipper.it. http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesPages/pect.html (Accessed on 26 Jun 2021).
  43. Polgar, G. 2016. First record and conservation value of Periophthalmus malaccensis Eggert from Borneo, with ecological notes on other mudskippers (Teleostei: Gobiidae) in Brunei. Scientia Bruneiana 15: 48-57.
  44. Pormansyah, P.; Muhammad, I.; Syahputra, P.; Setiawan, A.; Yustian, I. & Zulkifli, H. 2021. Similar but Different: Differences Hitherto Overlooked between Boleophthalmus pectinirostris and B. boddarti (Teleostei: Oxudercinae) in Indonesian Waters. Oceanogr Fish Open Access Journal 13(2): 1-6.
  45. Riffenburgh, R.H. 2012. Statistics in Medicine (3th ed.). Academic Press, Oxford, UK. pp. 581-591
  46. Samaradivakara, S.; Hirimuthugoda, N.; Gunawardana, R.; Illeperuma, R.; Fernandopulle, N.; Silva, A. & Alexander, P. 2012. Morphological variation of four tilapia populations in selected reservoirs in Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research 23(2): 105-116.
  47. Seçer, B.; Mouludi-Saleh, A.; Eagderi, S.; Çiçek, E. & Sungur, S. 2020. Morphological flexibility of Oxynoemacheilus seyhanensis in different habitats of Turkish inland waters: A case of error in describing a populations as distinct species. Iranian Journal of Ichthyology 7(3): 258-264.
  48. Shetty, T. 2017. Giant mudskipper - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia. Retrieved from Alchetron.com. https://alchetron.com/Giant-mudskipper
  49. Siddik, M.A.B.; Hanif, M.A.; Chaklader, M.R.; Nahar, A. & Fotedar, R. 2016. A multivariate morphometric investigation to delineate stock structure of gangetic whiting, Sillaginopsis panijus (Teleostei: Sillaginidae). SpringerPlus 5(1): 1-13.
  50. Taniwel, D. & Leiwakabessy, F. 2020. Density and length-weight relationship of mudskipper (Periophthalmus spp.) in the mangrove area of Kairatu Beach, Maluku, Indonesia. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 21(11): 5465-5473.
  51. Torres, S.K.M. & Santos, B. S. 2019. Species identification among morphologically-similar Caranx species. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 20(2): 159-169.
  52. Turan, C.; Gürlek, M.; Ergüden, D.; Yağlıoğlu, D. & Öztürk, B. 2011. Systematic status of nine mullet species (Mugilidae) in the Mediterranean Sea. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 11(2): 315-321.
  53. Ukenye, E.A.; Taiwo, I.A. & Anyanwu, P.E. 2019. Morphological and genetic variation in Tilapia guineensis in West African coastal waters: A mini review. Biotechnology Reports 24: p.e00362.
  54. Veasey, E.A.; Schammass, E.A.; Vencovsky, R.; Martins, P.S. & Bandel, G. 2001. Germplasm characterization of Sesbania accessions based on multivariate analyses. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 48(1): 79-91.
  55. You, X.; Sun, M.; Li, J.; Bian, C.; Chen, J.; Yi, Y.; Yu, H. & Shi, Q. 2018. Mudskippers and their genetic adaptations to an amphibious lifestyle. Animals 8(2): 24.