EVALUATION OF SCALE MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATIONS AND FEATURES IN FRESHWATER AQUARIUM FISHES

The integumentary system plays a significant role in the interactions with the environment in vertebrates. The integument part acts as the body envelope that protects and separates the individual from its environment and is an essential organ in communicating and sensing the outer atmosphere in fishes. The fish integument is a large organ covering all the body surfaces and lines the body openings. Thus they play a wide range of functions like protection, communication, sensory perception, respiration, locomotion, excretion, ion balance, and thermal regulation. For the present study, freshwater aquarium teleost fishes were collected from the local freshwater aquarium shops in and around Thiruvananthapuram. Our researchers collected eight teleost freshwater aquarium fishes from three different families (Cyprinidae, Osphronemidae, Poeciliidae) and qualitatively compared the morphology based on the observations and images captured using stereomicroscope and research microscope. The parameters used for comparison include scale shape and size, focus location, anterior margin shape, presence of lepidonts, tubercles, and ctenii. The relative size is also calculated to know the arrangement. The essential scales showing all the peculiar characteristics of scales such as caudal scale, dorsal scale, and median scales are analysed. This preliminary work might be helpful for further understanding the qualitative characters of different fishes.The qualitatively analyzed characteristics can be used in taxonomy and in studying more about the integumentary system of fish as well as in comparative studies with other vertebrate integumentary systems.