Abstract:
Asian Catfish (Hemibagrus wyckii ) is an important fish having both food and a high price in the market. These
species are categorized as a carnivorous freshwater finfish native in Indonesia and is vulnerable to endangered status. This study was
carried out to identify the morphometric characteristics of Hemibagrus wyckii (H. wyckii ) from the Koto Panjang Reservoir, Kampar Kanan
and Kampar Kiri rivers. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five fish were collected from each sampling site. The morphometric characteristics
were analyzed using the truss morphometric method. Twenty-nine characteristics were measured to obtain the morphometric
characteristics of this species. Morphometric data of H. wyckii were analyzed using one-way ANOVA (SPSS version 17.0). Principal
component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the relationship between different factors and morphometric characteristics. The
distribution across different habitats was measured by component canonical analysis (CCA) and genetic distance was analyzed by
hierarchical cluster. Results: The average standard lengths of H. wyckii from the Koto Panjang Reservoir, Kampar Kanan and Kampar
Kiri rivers (Mean±SD) were 428±15.78, 432.52±66.11 and 425.86±50.41 mm, respectively. Twenty-nine morphometric characteristics
were measured. There was a 68.96% difference obtained in samples collected at the Koto Panjang Reservoir and Kampar Kanan river. There
was a 95.55% difference obtained in the Koto Panjang Reservoir, Kampar Kiri river and a 100% difference obtained in the Kampar Kanan
and Kampar Kiri rivers. The main differences in morphometric characteristics included inter orbital distance, length of adipose-fin base,
predorsal length, length of front dorsal fin-front pelvic and depth of caudal peduncle. The Mahalanobis distance between fish from the
Koto Panjang Reservoir and Kampar Kanan river demonstrated that both types originated from a single population. Conclusion: It was
concluded that more favorable morphometric characteristics of H. wyckii were found in the Kampar Kanan river compared to those from
the Koto Panjang Reservoir and Kampar Kiri river.
