Spatiotemporal variations in length-weight relationship, growth pattern and condition factor of Periophthalmus variabilis Eggert, 1935 in Vietnamese Mekong Delta

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 10; p. e12798
• Main Authors: Dinh, Quang Minh, Nguyen, Ton Huu Duc, Nguyen, Tien Thi Kieu, Tran, Giang Van, Truong, Ngon Trong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 11.01.2022; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Allometry; Analysis; Animals; Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science; Body size; Condition factor; Data analysis; Dusky-gilled mudskipper; Ecology; Ecosystem; Female; Females; Fishes; Freshwater Biology; Growth; Growth patterns; Humans; Isometry; Laboratories; Length-weight relationships; Male; Males; Mangrove swamps; Maturation; Mud flats; Perciformes; Periophthalmus variabilis; Positive allometry; Resource evaluation; Salinity; Seasons; Southeast Asian People; Vietnam; Wetlands; Zoology; Nigeria; Vietnam; Indonesia; Isometry; Vietnam; Dusky-gilled mudskipper; Positive allometry
• ISSN: 2167-8359; 2167-8359
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12798

Length-weight relationship ( ), growth pattern and condition factor ( ) play a vital role in fish resource evaluation and management but data on this is limited for . This is an amphibious fish that lives in the mudflats of the mangrove forests in the Western Pacific regions, including the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). This paper contributes to the understanding of the , growth pattern and of . Fish specimens were collected by hand at four sites in the VMD from April 2020 to March 2021. The analysis of 495 individual fish (259 females and 236 males) showed that fish weight could be estimated from a given fish length due to high determination values (  = 0.70 - 0.97). Dusky-gilled mudskippers of the VMD exhibited positive allometry, as indicated by their larger than 3 value ( = 3.094 ± 0.045,  = 0.04). However, the growth pattern of the mudskipper between the sex and maturation stage (immature versus mature) showed isometry. These fish displayed positive allometry in the dry season ( = 3.138 ± 0.065) (>3,  = 0.04) but isometry in the wet season ( = 3.058 ± 0.061) (≈3, = 0.34). Fish growth ranged from isometry to positive allometry and varied by site ( = 2.850 ± 0.103-3.370 ± 0.114) and month ( = 2.668 ± 0.184-3.588 ± 0.299) based on the b value. The of was not affected by sex (  = 0.29), body size (  = 0.64) or season (  = 0.43), but was affected by site (  = 0.01) and month (  = 0.01). The of this species (1.05 ± 0.02) was higher than 1 (  < 0.001), indicating that the fish adapted well to their habitat.