Effects of Stream Damming on Morphological Variability of Fish: Case Study on Large Spot Barbell Barbus balcanicus

Abstract

In the present study, landmark-based geometric morphometrics was applied to compare and visualize the overall size and shape variation, sexual size and shape dimorphism of the species Barbus balcanicus Kotlík, Tsigenopoulos, Ráb & Berrebi from different fragmented localities. The body shape of the fish was significantly different both for sex and locality. Also, body size significantly differed between sexes, with females being generally larger than males. This study also proved significant differences in body shape between populations from different localities. Considering that the environmental conditions of the localities were not greatly different from each other, the morphological divergence that was observed may be partly attributed to stream damming, which acts as a stressor, permanently altering the systems and shifting them into new ecological frameworks.