Morphometric Characterization of African bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus Cuvier, 1829) Found in the Lower River Niger of Nigeria

Year 2025, Volume: 8 Issue: 3, 286 - 294, 15.05.2025

Oster Francis Nwachı

https://doi.org/10.47115/bsagriculture.1451255

Abstract

This study was conducted to characterize the African bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus) found in the lower River Niger of Nigeria at the following locations; Onitsha (6.1329° N, 6.7924°E), Illah (6.4219° N, 6.6491°E) and Ilushi (6.6688° N, 6.6304°E) with the use of morphometric (measured distance) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). A total of one hundred and fifty (150) samples were used for the study. Morphometric distances of body parts were subjected to the Principal Component Analysis on Unscramble@ X version 10.4 software. DNA samples were analyzed using muscular portion of the caudal region. Genomic molecular analysis was carried out for the RAPD band pattern. Denodogram was constructed using clustering analysis (UPGMA). PCR was confirmed using gel electrophoreses. Result shows that the Anal fin length at Illah point is statistically significant to Illushi but different from Onitsha, with F value of 3.326 and the P value of 0.039 and standard deviation of 0.1479, snout length of fish sampled at Onitsha is significantly different from those sampled in Illah and Illushi, having F value of 3.837 and P value of 0.024 and standard deviation of 0.0125, Dorsal fin length sampled in Illushi is statistically significant to Illah but different from Onitsha having F value of 4.164, P value 0.017 with standard deviation of 0.0145. A total of 46% of original grouped cases were correctly classified, while 45.3% of cross-validated grouped cases were also classified with overall diversity of 0.67 to 1.00. This gives respective similarity coefficients of 0.45, 0.37 and 0.31.

Keywords

Morphometric , Characterization , Electrophoreses , Molecular , Clustering

Ethical Statement

The study was approved by The study was approved by the Faculty of Agriculture Delta State University local ethics committee with the number S179/037.

Supporting Institution

Delta State University Abraka. Nigeria

Thanks

Nwachi, O.F

References

• Adite A, Winemiller KO, Fiogbe ED. 2006. Population structure and reproduction of the African bonytongue Heterotis niloticus in the So River-floodplain system (WestAfrica): implications for management. Ecol Freshw Fish, 15 (1): 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2005.00119.x
• Agnese IF, Adepo-Gourene B, Abban Ek, Fermonit Y. 1997. Genetic differentiation among natural populations of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Teleostei, Cichlidae), Heredity, 79: 88-96.
• Almeida FS, Fungaro MHP, Sodre LMK. 2001. RAPD and isoenzyme analysis of genetic variability in three allied species of catfish (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) from the Tibagi river. Brazil J Zool, 253: 113-120.
• Almeida FS, Sodre LMK. 2002. Comparative study by RAPD analysis of six species of the Pimelodidae family (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) from the Tibagi River, state of parana. Maringa, 24: 513-517.
• Amin SN, Arshad A, Ismail NH, Idris MH, Bujang JS, Siraj SS. 2010. Morphometric variation among the three species of genus Acetes (Decapoda: Sergestidae) in the coastal waters of Malacca, Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika J Trop Agric Sci, 33(2): 341-347.
• Azrita H, Junaidi S. 2014. Genetic variation among asang fish (Osteochilus vittatus Cyprinidae) populations using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers IJFAS 1(6): 213-217.
• Bakar AA, Adamson EAS, Juliana LH, Nor Mohd SA, Wei-Jen C, Man A, Md DN. 2018. DNA barcoding of Malaysian commercial snapper reveals an unrecognized species of the yellow-lined Lutjanus (Pisces: Lutjanidae). PLoS ONE 13(9). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0202945
• Barletta D, Berry RJ, Larsson SH, Lestander TA, Poletto M, Ramírez-Gómez Á. 2015. Assessment on bulk solids best practice techniques for flow characterization and storage/handling equipment design for biomass materials of different classes. Fuel Proc Tech, 138: 540-554.
• Edema CU, Osagiede HI. 2011. Morphological and trophic status of three Polynemid fishes from the Warri River, Nigeria. NJAFE, 7(1): 53-57
• Ezekiel, EN, Abowei, JFN. 2013. Length-weight relationship and condition factor of Heterotis niloticus from Amassoma flood plain, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Appl Sci Rep, 4(1): 164–172.
• Giddelo CS, Arndt AD, Volckaert FAM. 2002. Impact of rifting and hydrography on the genetic structure of Clarias gariepinus in eastern Africa. J Fish Biol, 60(5): 1252-1266.
• Gleick PH. 2000. The World's Water 2000-2001: The biennial report on freshwater. Island Press, ISBN 978-1-55963-792-3, Nijer, Nijerya, pp: 33,
• Gunawickrama KBS. 2007. Morphological heterogeneity in some estuarine populations of the catfish Arius jella (Ariidae) in Sri Lanka. Ceylon J Sci, 36(2): 101-108.
• Hassanien HA, Ebtehag A, Kame MA, Dorgham AS. 2011. Multivariate Analysis of morphometric parameters in wild and cultured Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. J Arab Aqua Soci, 6: 2.
• Hassanien, HA, Elnady M, Obeida A, Itriby H. 2004. Genetic diversity of Nile tilapia populations revealed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Aquaculture. Res, 35: 587-593.
• Hockaday S, Beddow TA, Stone M, Hancock P, Ross LG. 2000. Using truss networks to estimate the biomass of Oreochromis niloticus, and to investigate shape characteristics. J Fish Biol 57: 981-1000.
• Idodo-Umeh G. 2003. Freshwater fishes of Nigeria (taxonomy, ecological notes, diets and utilization). IdodoUmeh Publishers, Benin, Nigeria, pp: 232.
• Isabel N, Beaulieu J, Theriault P, Bousquet J. 1999. Direct evidence for biased gene diversity estimates from dominant random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints. Mol Ecol, 8: 477-483.
• Kusmini I, Rudy I, Mulyasari G. 2011. Genetic characterization of the kelabau (Osteochilus kelabau) from several locations in West Kalimantan using RAPD Method. Biol News, 10(4): 449-454.
• Kuton MP, Adeniyi BT. 2014. Morphological variations of Tilapia guineensis (Bleeker 1862) and Sarotherodon melanotheron (Ruppell 1852) (Pisces: Cichlidea) from Badagry and Lagos lagoon, South-West, Nigeria. J Fish Live Prod, 2(112): 2332-2608.
• Leuzzi MSP, Almeida FS, Orsi ML, Sodré LMK. 2004. Analysis by RAPD of the genetic structure of Astyanax altiparanae (Pisces, Characiformes) in reservoirs on the Parana panema River. Braz Gene Mole Biol, 27(3): 355-362.
• Leveque C, Paugy D, Teugels GG. 1990. Fauna of freshwater and saltwater poisons and West Africa, Volume 1. Paris: Editions ORSTOM / MRAC, pp: 155.
• Matoso DA, Artoni RF, GalettiJr PM. 2004. Genetic diversity of the small Characid fish Astyanax sp. and its significance for conservation. Hydrobiologia, 527: 223-225.
• Moreau J. 1982. Synoptic account of biological data on Heterotis niloticus (Cuvier, 1829). FAO Synop. Peaches 131: 1–45.
• Normala J, Okomoda VT, Mohd AA, Nur AA, Abol-Munafi AB, Md Sheriff S. 2021. Genetic variation between triploid and diploid Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Using RAPD Markers. Vet Sci 8: 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci8050075
• Novroski NMM, King JL, Churchill JD, Seah LH, Budowle B. 2016. Characterization of genetic sequence variation of 58 STR loci in four major population groups. Forensic Sci Int Genet, 2016: 214-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2016.09.007
• Nugroho E. 2011. Evaluation of genetic variation of Giant Gouramy strains revealed DNA marker. J Fish Sci, 13(2): 86-90.
• Nwachi O, Irabor A. 2022. Diallel hybridization of Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia) to Oreochromis aureus (blue tilapia). YYU J Agri Sci, 32(2): 280-285.
• Odo G, Nwamba H, Eyo J. 2009. Aspects of the biology of Heterotis niloticus Cuvier 1829 (Osteoglossiformes: Osteoglossidae) in the Anambra flood river system, Nigeria. Anim Res Int, 6 (2): 994–1002.
• Pathak NB, Parikh AN, Mankodi A. 2013. Morphometric analysis of fish population from two different ponds. Res J Anim Vet Fish Sci, 1: 6–9.
• Reed W, Burchard J, Jennes J, Yaro I. 1967. Fish and fisheries of Northern Nlgeria, Nigeria. MAO, Nigeria, pp: 226.
• Schwanck E, Rana K. 1996. Analysis of the morphometrics of three tilapias (Tilapia zillii, Sarotherodon galilaeus and Oreochromis niloticus) and their intergeneric Hybrids. In: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Tilapia in Aquaculture, 11-15 November, Manila, Philippines, pp: 550.
• Senay C, Harvey-Lavoie S, Macnaughton CJ, Bourque G, Boisclair D. 2017. Morphological differentiation in northern pike (Esox lucius L.): The influence of environmental conditions and sex on body shape. Can J Zool, 95: 6. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0159
• Sousa VA, Reeves PA, Reilley A, Aguiar AV, Stefenon VM, Richards CM. 2020. Genetic diversity and biogeographic determinants of population structure in Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) O. Ktze Conservation Genetics 21: 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-019-01242-9
• Stewart CN, Laura E. 1993. A rapid CTAB DNA isolation technique useful for RAPD fingerprinting and other PCR applications. Bio Techniq, 14(5): 748-749
• Toth B, Varkony E, Hidas A, Meleg EE, Varadi L. 2005. Genetic analysis of offspring from intra- and interspecific crosses of Carassius auratus gibelio by chromosome and RAPD analysis. J Fish Biol, 66: 784-797.
• Welsh J, McClelland M. 1990. Fingerprinting genomes using PCR with arbitrary primers. Nucleic Acids Res, 18: 7213-7218.