DNA barcoding identified selected ornamental fishes in Murti river of East India

Abstract

Nomenclature for the nameless is one of the successful events after the invention of the DNA barcoding technique in biodiversity research. The ornamental fish species are frequently hunted from the east and northeast India and trafficked with various elusive names and high demanding values. Such illegitimate trading stimulated the severe threats on the native freshwater ecosystems and their indigenous biodiversity. Both traditional taxonomy and DNA barcoding technique successfully identified 11 ornamental fish species from a small riverine system, Murti river; linked up with three protected areas in the northern part of West Bengal. To test the efficacy of DNA barcode data for species identification, the generated sequences were subjected to similarity search results, and Neighbour-Joining tree clustering and genetic divergences. The mean genetic divergence was 21.3% and the interspecific genetic distance was ranging from 17.8% to 28.7% in the studied dataset. The detected high intraspecific genetic divergence in Opsarius barna (14.1%) and Channa gachua (6.4%) in the present dataset suggested further genetic investigation from their known distributions.