Molecular identification of sharks and rays species from Aceh waters, Indonesia

Abstract

Shark is a cartilaginous fish that is widely hunted because it has high economic value. The waters of Aceh are directly adjacent to the Indian Ocean and the Malacca Strait making it a preferred habitat for pelagic fish, especially sharks. Information on shark species landed in the waters west and east of Aceh is very limited due to difficulties in identification and commonly used local names. This study aimed to determine the types of sharks landed in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, Langsa, Southwest Aceh and Simeulu and to find out specifically what species of sharks are most often landed in Aceh waters. Primary data gathering consisted of four stages, namely sample collection, identification using identification books, molecular identification cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and phylogenetic analysis. The results of the molecular analysis of 46 tissue samples from five locations identified 13 species of sharks, namely Carcharhinhus sorrah, Carcharhinhus amboinensis, Triaenodon obesus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Sphyrna zygaena, Sphyrna lewini, Loxodon macrorhinus, Hemipristis elongaria, Stagostoma fasciatum, Nebrius ferrugineus, Chilloscyllium punctatum, Isurus oxyrinchus, Alopias pelagicus, Alopias supercillosus and 1 species of rays, namely Rhynchobatus australiae. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction using the Neighbor Joining method of 610 basepairs consisting of two large clades separates the species Alopias pelagicus and Isurus oxyrichus with Carcharhinus sorrah, Sphyrna lewini, Loxodon macrorhinus and Rhyncobatus australiae with boostrap values of 87% and 64%. The haplotype diversity shown ranged from 0.667-0.889 while the nucleotide diversity ranged from 0.001-0.097. These values indicates high diversity because of the variance in the number of species found.Keywords:BarcodeCOISharks catchAlopias supercillosusSphyrna lewini

The first report of DNA barcoding of commercially important fish in Nias Islands, Indonesia

“…Rhynchobatus cf laevis and Sphyrna lewini were discovered in the waters of Faekhuna'a, with both sharks being small. Additionally, the habitat of Sphyrna lewini was also found in Ujong Baroh PPI near the Indian Ocean, as reported by (Ramadhaniaty et al 2023). This shark is the most frequently exploited among the Sphyrnidae family and ranks fourth most commonly found and sampled species (Feitosa et al 2018).…”

“…Sequences obtained from Nias waters were amalgamated with sequences available in NCBI (Table 3) to corroborate and validate the identification results. In recent decades, DNA Barcoding has emerged as a suitable tool to rectify morphological identification errors through molecular identification (Ramadhaniaty et al 2023). This classification aims to explore biodiversity and interrelationships within the same commodity groups.…”

“…According to fishermen's information, the waters of Faekhuna'a served as a habitat for hammerhead sharks and was a primary catch zone. There's an assumption that Sphyrna lewini extends its habitat to the waters of West Aceh (Ramadhaniaty et al 2023). Paragaleus randalli and Scomberomorus commerson found in South Nias and North Nias were included in the Near Threatened (NT) category.…”

Genetic diversity of bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus Lowe, 1841) landed in Palabuhanratu Fishing Port, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia

“…Because sharks are widespread and have a breeding season that allows them to travel to calmer waters, sharks and rays have a life cycle with a wide range of distribution (Bineesh et al 2017). Due to the process of adapting to different environments, this cycle causes shark species to show a high degree of variation (Ramadhaniaty et al 2023). The Fixation Index (FST) assesses the strength of the genetic population structure by describing genetic variation within individuals, within populations and between populations (Meirmans and Liu 2018).…”