Variation in the vertebral number of the milkfish Chanos chanos, collected from various localities

Abstract

A total of 2497 milkfish fry were collected in 1976 from nine localities in six countries, viz. India, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Tahiti. Vertebra counts ranged from 40 to 45. The general trend of geographical gradient in vertebral counts in the milkfish was observed to be lower in the west (or otherwise, along continents) and higher in the east (or around oceanic islands). Extremes in the means of vertebral counts by localities were seen in the samples from India with 43.08 and from Tahiti with 43.82. It was suggested that there may be at least four subpopulations among the milkfish throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific waters.