Identification of morphological guilds in streams fish communities and their application in the estimation of biomass

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K.M. Martin-Smith

Abstract

Length/weight relationships were examined in a tropical freshwater fish community to facilitate biomass estimation. The relationships of body weight to standard length were deter­mined for 21 species of freshwater fishes in Sabah, Malaysia (18 species of Cyprinidae, 1 species each of Anguillidae, Mastacembelidae and Bagridae). Multiple comparison of regres­sion lines by analysis of covariance revealed two major functional groups within which species were indistinguishable. These groups were designated 'flattened' and 'heavy-bodied' . In addition there were two species with an 'eel-like' morphology. Common regres­sion equations were generated for each group which allowed biomass to be estimated solely from length-frequency data, without the need for species identification. Biomass was estimated from species-specific regressions and from guild-specific regressions using data from surveys of four streams. The difference between these values was less than 5% for three streams with diverse fish communities. For a fourth stream with only four species biomass was signifi­cantly underestimated. When the length-frequency data were grouped in intervals the error of estimation increased as the interval size increased. Size data grouped into 2 or 3 mm intervals gave estimates of biomass indistinguishable from raw data. It is sug­gested that the use of morphological guilds is a valid tool for fresh­water fish survey work in the old-world tropics.

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How to Cite
Martin-Smith, K. (1996). Identification of morphological guilds in streams fish communities and their application in the estimation of biomass. Malaysian Journal of Science, 17(1), 49–57. Retrieved from http://jice.um.edu.my/index.php/MJS/article/view/9406
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Original Articles