Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXIV, Issue 1
Written by Lyudmila NIKOLOVA, Stanimir BONEV
A comparative analysis on 36 metric, 7 meristic features was performed and 7 morphometric indices were calculated in seven-year-old male and female hybrids (F1 Acipenser baerii x Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) grown under the same conditions on a super-intensive cage farm. The antiventral (P<0.05) and pecto-ventral (P<0.01) distance are bigger in female fish. Their head, compared to males, is wider, higher in the area above the eye and has a relatively larger space behind the eye (P<0.05). Female fish have a relatively larger eye diameter (P<0.01), wider mouth (P<0.001) and snout (P<0.001), higher dorsal (P<0.05) and anal, (P<0.05) and longer pectoral (P<0.001) and abdominal (P<0.05) fin. Male hybrids have a higher body relative to total length (P<0.01), a higher caudal stalk (P<0.05), and a longer anal fin (P<0.01). Their head has more massive and long snout (P<0.001), a bigger distance from the snout end to the mouth (P<0.001) and a greater width of the lower lip brake (P<0.05). The ratio of lower lip brake to the mouth length was higher (P<0.001) in male fish. The values of the high backed index (P<0.01) and the fatness index, including the body girth (P<0.05) in female fish are higher.
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