Morphological Differentiation among Estuarine Catfishes of the Family Ariidae of the Matang Mangrove Ecosystem, Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

Morphometric and meristic analysis indicates that the six species of the ariid catfishes of the genera $Arius$ recorded from Sungai Selinsing of the Matang mangroves can be distinguished on the basis of their pre-dorsal length, inter-orbital width, number of gill rakers and head length. $Arius$ $sangor$ has the longest pre-dorsal length and the widest inter-orbital width while $Arius$ $truncatus$ has the lowest number of gill rakers. $Arius$ $maculatus$ is separated from all other ariids of the area in having the highest number of gill rakers while $A.$ $caelatus$ is a species with the longest dorsal spine. Discriminant analysis employed has shed valuable insights on these morphological differentiations.