MORPHOMETRIC VARIATION AMONG Bagrus docmak (SSEMUTUNDU) OF THE UGANDAN MAJOR WATER BODIES

M.T. MWANJA¹*, C. ARUHO², V. NAMULAWA³, R. DDUNGU⁴, C.C. ONDHORO⁵, R.K. BASIITA^6
1National Agricultural Research Organization, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center, Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530 Kampala, Uganda
²National Agricultural Research Organization, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center, Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530 Kampala, Uganda
³National Agricultural Research Organization, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center, Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530 Kampala, Uganda
⁴National Agricultural Research Organization, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center, Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530 Kampala, Uganda
⁵National Agricultural Research Organization, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center, Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530 Kampala, Uganda
⁶Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Marine and Environmental Science, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811 QLD Australia
* Corresponding Author : mmtenywa@hotmail.com

Received : 17-11-2014     Accepted : 18-12-2014     Published : 30-12-2014
Volume : 5     Issue : 1       Pages : 167 - 172
J Fish Aquaculture 5.1 (2014):167-172

Keywords : Bagrus docmak, morphometric variation, phylogenetics, Uganda’s waters, domestication efforts
Conflict of Interest : None declared

Bagrus docmak, locally known as Ssemutundu, is one of the native catfishes of Uganda occurring in lakes Albert, Edward, Kyoga and Victoria; and rivers Kagera and the Victoria Nile. The species is a high value food fish that has been targeted for domestication, a process that requires definition of the different strains/taxa of the species. We investigated the morphological variations based on 22 morphological characters in an attempt to identify the different strains of B. docmak and define the species’ morphological phylogenetics in Uganda’s major water bodies. Morphometric data taken from 372 samples was analysed using multivariate methods in an attempt to establish the morphological phylogenetics relationships within and among the different geographical populations. A scatter diagram based on the two most significant components and a multidimensional scaling plot (MDS) based on Euclidean similarity measure clustered the B. docmak from Uganda’s major water bodies into two groups. One group exclusively contained the Victoria Nile individuals whereas the second group contained the rest of the samples. These two groups require further studying for they may require different management approaches and may have different potential aquaculture traits. The findings are discussed in such a way as to emphasise revival, domestication, culture and sustainable exploitation of the Ssemutundu fishery in the country.