DNA barcoding reveals distinct population of Plotosus canius (Siluriformes: Plotosidae) in Sundarbans waters

Abstract

The Gray eel-catfish, Plotosus canius is a widely distributed species in Indo-West Pacific region and predominantly found in marine and brackish water. Although the recent genetics study evidenced the different population of P. canius from Southeast Asia, sampling from Indian water is required to assess the ample population structure. Hence, the current study is aimed to generate the DNA sequences of P. canius from Sundarban to recognize the genetic distinctiveness of the Indian population. Both P. canius and P. lineatus showed more than one clade in neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogeny. Further, the high genetic divergences in P. canius (5.2–11%) and P. lineatus (3.6–11%) depicted cryptic and diverse population. The median-joining network with 21 haplotypes also suggested unique haplogroup of P. canius from Sundarbans. However, more sampling of P. canius from diverse geographical locations and involving additional molecular markers would substantiate the conservation genetics and proper management.

Keywords

• eel-catfish
• plotosus canius
• sundarbans
• dna barcoding
• phylogeny