DNA Barcoding and Morphological Characters of Two Trevally Fish species (Caranx spp.) Collected from Youtefa Bay, Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

Trevally fish (Caranx spp.) or Kuwe fish are small pelagic fish that are mostly caught in the waters of Youtefa Bay. There are two species of Kuwe fish that are difficult to distinguish due to morphological similarities. These Kuwe fish have differently scientific species identification so they need for correct naming. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify and find out the proper naming of the two Kuwe fish. DNA barcoding is a technique used to speed up and simplify the process of identifying organisms. The purpose of this research was to identify the proper scientific name of the two Kuwe species in Youtefa Bay waters, as well as the kinship between these two types by applying a DNA barcoding technique. Nineteen Kuwe fish were sampled at Youtefa Bay, Jayapura, Papua in July 2022. Samples were studied morphologically, then carried directly to the Integrated Laboratory of Diponegoro University for molecular studies. DNA extraction, amplification, and DNA sequencing were carried out to further validate the species' identification. The results showed that in the BLAST analysis that 10 samples were closely related to C. sexfasciatus (99%-100% in similarity) and 9 samples were similar to C. tille (97%- 99%). The genetic distance between individuals in C. sexfasciatus and C. tille has a value ranging from 0% - 0.2%, and the phylogenetic tree that the two species are included in different clades. This study revealed that there are two species of Kuwe fish (C. sexfasciatus and C. tille) in Youtefa Bay, Papua, Indonesia.