Morphological characteristics of smoothbelly sardinella, Amblygaster leiogaster (Val.) in the Bay of Bengal

Species identification, classification, and the genetic studies of fishes rely principally on meristic counts and morphometric characteristics. The current study was designed to provide the first comprehensive, instructive description of the meristic counts and morphometric relationships (length-weight relationship [LWR] and length-length relationship [LLR]) of Amblygaster leiogaster (Val.) from Bangladesh waters. Using various traditional fishing gears, 250 individuals were collected from the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh between December 2019 and November 2020. A magnifying glass was used for the meristic counts, including several fin rays. Nine lengths were measured to the nearest 0.1 cm using a measurement board, and body weight (BW) was determined to the nearest 0.01 g with a digital electronic balance. The fin formula was: D. 17–18 (2/15–16); P. 15–16 (1/14–15); Pv. 8 (1/7); A. 18–20; C. 19–20 (2/17–18). Total length (TL) range was 13.3–20.0 cm, and BW range was 25.72–79.69 g. All LWRs demonstrated a high level of significance (P < 0.0001) with r² values ≥ 0.946. The best fitted models were BW vs TL in LWRs, and TL vs FL in LLRs, as shown by the highest r² values. This study serves as a baseline for identifying this species that will help fisheries scientists in further research.