Length-weight relationship, morphometric characters, and meristic counts of the coldwater fish Crossocheilus diplochilus (Heckel) from Dal Lake

Morphometric and meristic characters are very important for the identification of any fish specimen. The present study aims to describe the morphometric and meristic characters of the indigenous fish Crossocheilus diplochilus (Heckel) from Dal Lake. This fish is commonly known as Kashmir latia and is called tether locally. In the present study, the material analyzed was 70 specimens ranging in size from 6.9–13 cm (TL) with a mean length of 10.8 cm and a weight range of 3.2–24.0 g with a mean weight of 10.1 g. The parameters with the highest correlations with total length were standard length and fork length at 0.983 and 0.989, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that all morphometric characters changed proportionally as total length increased. The meristic counts analyzed in the present study remained constant in fish of different sizes indicating that they are independent of body size. The study of morphometric characters is very important to determine the growth rate of these fish, which, in turn, is required to properly manage its populations.