Morphometric Variation among Bagrus Docmak (Ssemutundu) of the Ugandan major Water Bodies
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Abstract
Bagrus docmak, locally known as Ssemutundu, is one of the native catfishes of Uganda occurring in lakes Albert, Edward, Kyoga
and Victoria; and rivers Kagera and the Victoria Nile. The species is a high value food fish that has been targeted for domestication, a process that requires definition of the different strains/taxa of the species. We investigated the morphological variations based on 22 morphological characters in an attempt to identify the different strains of B. docmak and define the species’ morphological phylogenetics in Uganda’s major water bodies. Morphometric data taken from 372 samples was analysed using multivariate methods in an attempt to establish the morphological phylogenetics relationships within and among the different geographical populations. A scatter diagram based on the two most significant components and a multidimensional scaling plot (MDS) based on Euclidean similarity measure clustered the B. docmak from Uganda’s major water bodies into two groups. One group exclusively contained the Victoria Nile individuals whereas the second group contained the rest of the samples. These two groups require further studying for they may require different management approaches and may have different potential aquaculture traits. The findings are discussed in such a way as to emphasise revival, domestication, culture and sustainable exploitation of the Ssemutundu fishery in the country.
Description
Keywords
Bagrus docmak, morphometric variation, phylogenetics, domestication efforts
Citation
Mwanja, M., Aruho, C., Namulawa, V., Ddungu, R., Ondhoro, C., & Basiita, R. (2014). Morphometric variation among Bagrus docmak (Ssemutundu) of the Ugandan major water bodies. Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 5(1), 167-172.