Some meristic characteristics of hybrids between Acipenser naccarii and Acipenser baerii.

The aim of this study was to describe meristic characters of hybrid Acipens er naccarii x A. baeri. to be used as the basis for characterizing hybrid s pecimens in a complementary manner to as described for A. naccarii by Herna ndo et ar. (1999). Thirty 2+ and 3+ year class individuals from the Region of Lombardy (Italy) were analysed for eight morphological variables (Soljan 1975; Holcick et al. 1989), and weight. Three indices, viz the relative po sition of barbels (CA), the ratio of snout width to length (FB) (Garrido-Ra mos et al. 1997), and the Soljan index (Hernando et al. 1999), were used to characterize hybrids. A descriptive analyses of variables, simple and multiple regression analysi s, and principal components relationships, were calculated The relationship s between TI and the indices was described using a stepwise multiple regres sion analysis. TI = 33.32 - 0.26 CA + 10.49 FB; 74.45 SOLJ (F = 1.96; Df = 3).