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Comparative morphology of the pectoral fin spine of the P ersian sturgeon A cipenser persicus , the R ussian sturgeon A cipenser gueldenstaedtii , and the S tarry sturgeon A cipenser stellatus in I ranian waters of the C aspian S ea
Author(s) -
Bakhshalizadeh Shima,
Bani Ali,
Abdolmalaki Shahram
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2012.00576.x
Subject(s) - fish fin , biology , sturgeon , spine (molecular biology) , acipenser , anatomy , zoology , dorsal fin , fin , morphology (biology) , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , bioinformatics , dorsum , materials science , composite material
The morphological characteristics of the pectoral fin spine were compared in three species of sturgeon, the P ersian sturgeon ( A cipenser persicus ), the R ussian sturgeon ( A cipenser gueldenstaedtii ), and the S tarry sturgeon ( A cipenser stellatus ), all sampled from the C aspian S ea. On the basis of morphological characters of the pectoral fin spine, 62.2% of the individuals were correctly classified into separate groups. The cluster analysis also divided the three species into two major subgroups. A cipenser persicus and A. gueldenstaedtii were grouped together, suggesting a similar evolutionary basis. Significant morphological heterogeneity in pectoral fin spine characteristics was observed among the three sturgeon species. Principal component analysis identified the largest differences were in the pectoral fin spine size and the angle between distal pectoral fin spine and the horizontal line ( A °). The first and second principal components ( PC 1 and PC 2) of all observations accounted for 64.19% and 14.33% of the total variation, respectively. The combination of all analyses showed the relevance of applying pectoral fin spine shape for interspecific distinction of the three species of sturgeons.