Study of diversity and morphometric differentiation of of Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843) populations in Fars province

This investigation was conducted to study of diversity and distinction of Garra rufa in some aquatic ecosystems located in Fars province. So, 208 samples were collected from five aquatic ecosystems located in Fars province (Rudbal river, Babasheikh Khalil subterranean, Qaderabad subterranean, Doudabad subterranean, Khargheh river) and 24 morphological traits were measured. Before data analysis, morphometric traits were standardized to reduce or eliminate of size and algometric growth effect. The results showed that studied population have significant differences in all of relative morphometric traits except of pelvic fin length, which indicates a high phenotypic diversity in Gara. According to principal component analysis, population of Babasheikh Khalil are very different with Qaderabad and Kharqeh population. On the other hand, a little separation was observed for Kherghe and Rudbal populations with Qaderabad and Dodabad. Based on results, the most important traits for identification and differentiation of G. rufa population are dorsal fin height, anal fin height, barbell length, disc length and disc width in the studied ecosystems.