Effect of freezing and some preservatives on morphometric characters of Barbus luteus (Pisces: Cyprinidae)‎ collected from Qurna Marshes, South of Iraq

Abstract EN

A total of thirty specimens of Barbus luteus (Heckel, 1843) from Qurna Marshes north of Basra in November 2008 were collected.

Seven morph metric characters (total length, standard length, body depth, head length, body width, snout length and eye diameter) of specimens were measured to determine the effect of freezing and preservation during the study period (11 week).

The different preservatives were prepared as follows: 10% formalin, 70% alcohol and freezing experiment.

The results showed three types of effects on morph metric characters: Shrinkage, increase and no effect, the greatest shrinkage was noticed in body depth of specimens which preserved in 10% formalin, the greatest increase was in head length of specimens which preserved in freezing and no effect was noticed in snout length and eye diameter which preserved in 10% formalin and total length which preserved in freezing.