An Evaluation of the Morphometric and Meristic Differences of Cyprinus Carpio (Linnaeus,1758) Populations in the Grand Northern River and Al-Sin Research Center Environments in the Syrian Coast

Abstract

Morphometric and Meristic characteristics of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) populations were studied in two different environments: the Al-Kabir River and the Al-Sin Research Center. Fourteen morphological traits were measured for 213 specimens from two populations of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), including total length (TL), standard length (SL), maximum body height (MAXH), minimum body height (MINH), head length (HL), pre-orbital length, post-orbital length, eye diameter (ED), and the distance between the ventral and anal fins. It was found that some traits are genetically controlled, accounting for 62.5%, while other traits show a dual effect of both environment and genetics, accounting for 12.5%. In contrast, traits that are strongly influenced by the environment accounted for 25%. The t-test revealed significant differences between the two populations from the two locations.