DNA Barcoding Uncover Cryptic Diversity in Goat Fishes (Family: Mullidae) Across the Egyptian Coastal Waters

Abstract

Despite ongoing efforts to protect species and ecosystems in the egyptian costs of the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, habitat degradation, overfishing and pollution have posed serious challenges to marine natural resources. In spite of the accumulated knowledge on the systematics of commercial fishes in Egypt recent results suggested that we are far from having a complete picture of egyptian fish diversity. The accurate identification of species is a very important component in many fields of biological research and conservation efforts. The high level of expertise and time consuming process needed means a loss in biodiversity. Successful species identification is now frequently based on a combination of approaches including morphometrics and the sequencing of the mitochondrial COI gene known as the DNA barcoding. This study employed COI sequencing alongside traditional taxonomic identification methods and uncovered cryptic diversity within the goat fish species of Family Mullidae, four species collected from both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Upeneus pori, Upeneus vittatus, Mullus surmuletus and Mullus barbatus samples from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean were clustered separately in a NJ tree indicating the possibility of the presence of cryptic species complex. All species could be differentiated by their COI sequence.

DNAbarcoding of economically important freshwater fish species from north‐central Nigeria uncovers cryptic diversity

“…For instances, in several studies, more than 98% of the analyzed species were clearly identified using DNA barcoding approach (Costa et al, 2012;deWaard, Hebert, & Humble, 2011;Liu & Zhang, 2018;Steinke, Zemlak, & Hebert, 2009;Valdez-Moreno, Ivanova, Elías-Gutiérrez, Contreras-Balderas, & Hebert, 2009;Ward, Zemlak, Innes, Last, & Hebert, 2005;Zhang & Hanner, 2011). Studies have also documented the usefulness of DNA barcoding approach in unraveling cryptic lineages within many species of fish (Benzaquem, Oliveira, da Silva Batista, Zuanon, & Porto, 2015;Mat Jaafar, Taylor, Mohd Nor, de Bruyn, & Carvalho, 2012;Mohammed, Manal, Rasha, & Magdy, 2016). Thus, DNA barcoding could be an effective genetic tool that would assist Nigerian conservation managers in identifying species accurately and uncover hidden diversity.…”

DNA Barcoding Silver Butter Catfish (Schilbe intermedius) Reveals Patterns of Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity Across African River Systems

“…While morphology-based taxonomy might possibly overlook such diversity, DNA barcoding, involving mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), has been recommended as a complementary taxonomic tool for species identification and unravelling cryptic diversity 6 . The COI barcoding has proven successful in the identification of fish species [1][2][3][4][5]7 and the discovery of cryptic diversities 2,[8][9][10][11] . Several examples of deep COI sequence divergences within fish species have been attributed to cryptic speciation 2,3,[8][9][10][11] .…”

Preliminary genetic assessment of three goatfish species in the Mediterranean Sea

“…Lessepsian invaders; see Bernardi et al, 2016), which includes U. moluccensis. The ecological differences between the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea might explain the genetic variance of invader goatfish species from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal (Ahmed et al, 2016). However, some Lessepsian species might have been introduced from the Red Sea by alternative pathways, such as anthropogenic transport (e.g.…”