Fluctuating asymmetry of guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Peters, 1860) as a stress indicator in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Philippines

Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were reported as indicators of waters in poor conditions, representing one of the most significant models in evolutionary ecology due to the species' quick response to natural selection. The inability of these species to develop perfect symmetry can be associated to the disturbances in their environment. Determining the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as a measure of the species developmental instability of P. reticulata found in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Philippines is an effective tool in finding out the ecological health and to fully understand the shape variability of guppies found in the area. Landmark-based geometric morphometrics was used in the study to analyze the biological shape information of the samples. Procrustes ANOVA was employed for the assessment of FA. Statistical analyses showed that there is a significant FA on both sexes of the fishes (p