Genetic divergence in wild population of endangered yellowtail catfish Pangasius pangasius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) revealed by mtDNA

Abstract

Pangasius pangasius, an endangered freshwater fish species, is an important component of capture fishery from Indian rivers. Samples collected through commercial catches from three riverine populations were analyzed with cytb (307 bp) and ATPase6&8 (842 bp) regions for population variation and differentiation. The sequences of the both the mitochondrial regions revealed high haplotype and low nucleotide diversity. Shallow genetic diversity based on ATPase6&8 was observed, however its haplotypes network clearly indicated two distinct mitochondrial lineages. Mismatch distribution suggested population bottlenecks followed by expansion in Mahanadi population. The present study indicated the ATPase6&8 to be a potential mitochondrial marker for studying the population sub-structuring in the wild population of P. pangasius.

• Endangered species
• genetic diversity
• genetic variation
• mitochondrial markers
• Pangasius pangasius

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Director, NBFGR, for providing facilities for this research work, conducted under project NBFGR-ICAR DNA25C. The excellent technical assistance provided by Mr Shree Ram is thankfully acknowledged.

Declaration of interest

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

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary Tables I–III