Molecular phylogeny of commercially important lobster species from Indian coast inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

Abstract

Lobsters constitute low-volume high-value crustacean fishery resource along Indian coast. For the conservation and management of this declining resource, accurate identification of species and larvae is essential. The objectives of this work were to generate species-specific molecular signatures of 11 commercially important species of lobsters of families Palinuridae and Scyllaridae and to reconstruct a phylogeny to clarify the evolutionary relationships among genera and species included in this study. Partial sequences were generated for all the candidate species from sampling sites along the Indian coast using markers like Cytochrome oxidase I (COI), 16SrRNA, 12SrRNA, and 18SrRNA genes, and analyzed. The genetic identities of widely distributed Thenus species along the Indian coast to be Thenus unimaculatus and the sub-species of Panulirus homarus to be P. homarus homarus were confirmed. Phylogeny reconstruction using the individual gene and concatenated mtDNA data set were carried out. The overall results suggested independent monophyly of Scyllaridae and Stridentes of Palinuridae. The interspecific divergence was found to be highest for the 12SrRNA compared with other genes. Significant incongruence between mtDNA and nuclear 18SrRNA gene tree topologies was observed. The results hinted an earlier origin for Palinuridae compared with Scyllaridae. The DNA sequence data generated from this study will aid in the correct identification of lobster larvae and will find application in research related to larval transport and distribution.

• Mitochondrial markers
• nuclear markers
• lobsters

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Hashim, Dr Thangaraja, and Mr. Mohammed Koya for providing us samples of certain species of lobsters. The authors are indebted to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the directors of National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) and Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) for providing all necessary help and support for this work. Thanks to the valuable suggestions of Dr. Divya, Mr. Rahul G. Kumar, and Mr. Raj Kumar who helped us to improve this manuscript. This study was a part of Ph.D. work submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

The first author acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, for the fellowship (F. No. 09/894 (001)/2004-EMR-I) received to carry out this research.