Abstract
Morphometric and meristic data were used in this study to establish morphological variations within the largest genetically consistent groups of five wild populations of tilapia from Kyushu and Okinawa ecological regions of Japan. The genetic analysis based on mitochondrial DNA relatedness was used to determine the data range used for the morphological analyses. During the morphological analyses, the morphometric and meristic data were correlated by two multivariate statistical methods, such as PCA and LDA. Both statistical methods observed morphological differences of higher divergence in Okinawa contrary to Kyushu. Additionally, the statistical relationship between the estimated non-parametric test of ANOSIM (R = 0.21; p ˂ 0.05) and PERMANOVA (F = 4.20; p ˂ 0.05) indicated a higher magnitude of morphological separation, especially in Okinawa; nevertheless, water temperature, conductivity, and salinity levels vary widely in Kyushu than in Okinawa. All observed differences could be attributed to either genetic and/or environmental factors, which are major variables in influencing phenotypic variability. However, since tilapia in Japan experienced multiple introductions from different countries and environmental backgrounds, we recommend further studies under a controlled environment to ascertain the environmental responsiveness during morphological differentiation within a genetically consistent group of tilapia.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author (Fatsi P.S.K) on reasonable request.
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We are equally grateful to the Hiroshima University’s Oceanography Cruise (Toyoshio-Maru) Team for their valuable support during field sampling.
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We extend our gratitude to the Japanese Government, through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) and the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life (under the Sustainable Food Production program; S.F.P.P), Hiroshima University, Japan, for financially supporting this study.
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Fatsi, P.S.K., Hashem, S., Appiah, E.K. et al. Morphological divergence within the largest genetically consistent group of wild Tilapia. Environ Biol Fish 104, 597–613 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01098-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01098-4