Genetic variability and phylogenetic analysis of great snakehead Channa marulius based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I from River Sutlej in Punjab, India

Abstract

The present study was carried out to analyze the biodiversity of fish species under family Channidae and genetic diversity with special reference to Channa marulius from selected stretches of River Sutlej in Punjab. Total three species under family Channidae were
recorded i.e. Channa striata, C. marulius and C. punctata. In catch composition, among these three species, C. marulius was dominant (58%) followed by C. striata (37%) and C. punctata (5%). In C. marulius the Mean ± SE values of weight, total length and standard length were 1482.39±290.02 g, 57.70±3.74 cm and 49.94±3.27 cm, respectively. Length-weight relationship established a negative allometric growth pattern in C. marulius. The genetic variation in wild population of C. marulius was determined by using partial sequence of the Cytochrome oxidase subunit I of mitochondrial DNA. Three haplotypes were found in 14 Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I sequences of C. marulius at Sutlej River. The haplotype diversity (0.026) and nucleotide diversity were recorded low (0.045). The phylogenetic pattern of all the specimens of C. marulius were same barring two specimens which showed some variations. The intraspecific mean was 0.05 and pair-wise distance assorted from 0.00 to 0.192%, showed no significant difference. The nucleotide
frequency was A=23.1%, T=29.37%, G=17.33% and C=30.18% and G+C content was 0.475 (47.5%). Though no previous genetic diversity data of C. marulius from river Sutlej is available, the comparison of these diversity indices with C. striata stocks from other geographical locations indicates that C. marulius stocks in river Sutlej are less genetically diverse. The present study can be utilized as database for future policy framing and conservation measures.