Morphometrics Diversity and Phenotypic Relationship of the Red Snapper (Lutjanus gibbus) in Northern Papua Waters

Abstract

Morphometric and meristic studies can be used to identify stocks and relationships between populations of fish resources. Lutjanus gibbus is a fish species commonly found in the waters of northern Papua and is one of the fishery commodities targeted by fishermen other than groupers. In this study, the morphometric and meristic characteristics of L. gibbus snapper from several locations in the northern Papua Seas were addressed. The study was conducted in June and July 2022. One hundred and six fish individuals of the L. gibbus species were examined using cluster, Pearson correlation, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The findings demonstrated a substantial correlation between these species’ morphometric traits, particularly regarding the relationship between total length and standard length (0.960) of the fishes’ bodies. According to PCA analysis, total length, standard length, and distance between the ventral fin and the end of fin origin are the three most important morphometric features. Meristic traits like anal-fin spine and anal-fin soft ray exhibit stable numbers across all populations, but other morphometric traits show significant individual variation. According to the results of Pearson Correlation analysis and dendrogram reconstruction, the populations of L. gibbus in the waters off northern Papua had a strong correlation and a high degree of morphometric similarity. Character relationships and a high degree of similarity indicate that there is no morphometric structure formed between populations