Origin of invasive fish species, peacock bass cichla species in lake telabak malaysia revealed by mitochondrial DNA barcoding

Abstract

Peacock bass (Perciformes, Cichlidae, Cichla) are multi-coloured and highly predatory fish originated from Amazonian region. The species was deliberately introduced into Malaysia freshwater bodies by anglers in the early 1990’s for sport fisheries. In this recent study, we found the population of peacock bass in Lake Telabak, a man-made lake in Besut, Terengganu. Using mitochondrial DNA analysis approach, the origin and taxonomy of peacock bass in the lake were clarify. A total of forty fishes were sampled from Lake Telabak for the analysis. Haplotype was detected among all samples. The current study revealed that Cichla spp. in Lake Telabak are closer to Cichla ocellaris (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) with a sequence similarity of 99.72% as blasted at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The evolutionary history inferred using the maximum likelihood method in the molecular phylogenetic analysis also confirmed the species as C. ocellaris, but no record found concerning their origin. The Tasik Telabak peacock bass also match with the Cichla temensis which is traced to the Amazonas and Parà states of Brazil (Manaus, Novo Airão, Tapajós and Tefé).