Studying species diversity and morphometric indicators of individual species of wild ichthyofauna and aquaculture objects of Mekong River basin

Abstract

The research was conducted under the Southern Branch of the Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technology Center (Ho Chi Minh City). Preliminary there were obtained the data on the species composition of the ichthyofauna of the Mekong River basin in South Vietnam. The ichthyofauna of the studied rivers was represented by at least 20 species. The greatest fish species diversity was observed in the Ham Luong River – 7 species, in the Mekong River – 6 fish species, and in the Mỹ Tho River and Bassac River (Can Tho City) – 5 species of fish, respectively. During the study of morphometric indicators of fish from the rivers of various provinces of South Vietnam, the following conclusions were made: the largest morphometric measurements were carps. The average body length of the species Barbonymus gonionotus from the Mekong ranged from 17 to 23 cm and was at the level of 19.4 ± 2.53 cm, while the body weight ranged from 92 to 200 g (128.0 ± 43.75 g). The average fatness coefficients for Fulton and Clark made 3.52 ± 0.6 and 2.94 ± 0.23, respectively. In turn, the body length indicators of this fish species in the Bassac River (Can Tho City) were 37.88% higher and amounted to 26.75 ± 3.18 cm, while the min and max values were 24.5 and 29 cm, respectively. At the same time, the body mass index was 2 times greater and was equal to 301.0 ± 83.44 g, the average fatness coefficients for Fulton and Clark were at the level of 3.58 ± 0.06 and 2.91 ± 0.23.