A holistic approach, combining one phenotypic and two genotypic methods, was adopted
to analyze possible population differences in Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) from
selected centers in the East and West coasts of India. Principal component analysis of truss
landmark variables revealed that the area encompassing depth between the origin of anal and
origin of second dorsal and caudal peduncle depth has high component loadings. Bivariate scatter
plots of principal components showed a great degree of morphometric homogeneity between
Indian mackerel populations from Mandapam, Kochi and Karwar. Clustering pattern of
polypeptide markers revealed relatively greater population homogeneity among Mandapam fish
(58%) than Kochi samples (33%). The three random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers
used in the present study have generated a total of 59 loci varying in size from 560 to
4500 bp. None of the populations from Mandapam, Kochi and Karwar showed RAPD fragments
of fixed frequencies, to be treated as population-specific markers. No significant differences
were found among the three populations
