Authors : M.H.A. Rahim, A. Rozila and A.M. Mat Jais
Abstract: Haruan, the local name for snakehead Channa striatus, indigenous to Malaysia, is a tropical and air breathing carnivorous fresh water fish in the family Channidae, which have important economics value as consumption’s fish and medicine value. In this study, a total of 120 specimens of Haruan Channa striatus were collected from the sampling stations in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu. The result of physical-chemical parameters of the natural habitat were mainly Dissolved Oxygen (DO) within range from 2.62-33.70 mg L-1; pH between 5.16-6.90; temperature within 29.43-31.86°C; turbidity of the water between -10.00 to 14.57 NTU; conductivity of 0.06-0.97 mS cm-1 and salinity of 0-20 ppt. In the mixed populations, length weight relationships indicated the pattern of negative allometric type of growth (b<3). The result shows that the length of frequency distribution by populations from Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu were 25.97±2.88, 29.97±4.75, 31.52±3.32, 27.74±3.16, 30.34±2.87 and 29.53±6.67 cm TL, respectively. Variation in twenty four morphometric characteristics of Haruan C. striatus were examined by multivariate analysis. The discriminant analysis and the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmeric averaging (UPGMA) cluster analysis based on Mahalanobis distance between group centroids showed that populations at Kelantan, Perak and Terengganu had quite similar morphological distant, while Johor, Kedah and Pahang were rather different. Such measurements are useful in the management of different cultures of Haruan C. striatus for Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) in farming technology, as well as the basic for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) production.
M.H.A. Rahim, A. Rozila and A.M. Mat Jais, 2009. The Physical-Chemical and Morphological Study of Haruan Channa striatus in Peninsular Malaysia. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 4: 994-1009.