Abstract
This study examined the population structure and genetic distance between two Clariid species, Clarias gariepinus and Heterobranchus bidorsalis using microsatellite markers. Genetic strains of 20 domesticated samples of both species were characterized with four microsatellite markers. 95% of the samples amplified upon PCR amplification and 44.3% of the total alleles observed for all the loci were heterozygote. Analysis showed that all the four loci were polymorphic for all the samples, observed and expected heterozygosity had mean values of 0.4438±0.1116 and 0.9025±0.0211 respectively. Conformity to Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium using the Chi-Square test showed 81.25% of locus-population relationship conformed to Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. The phylogenetic tree obtained gave a bootstrap value of 72 indicating the genetic distance between the two species. The result obtained in this research will be used to show the genetic differences between the two species, serve as a preliminary data for the improvement of Clariid fishery and characterization of other fish species.
Highlights
The family Clariidae belongs to the order Siluriformes and contributes significantly to annual freshwater fish production in South and Southeast Asia and Africa (Na Nakorn, 1999)
95% of the samples amplified upon polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and 44.3% of the total alleles observed for all the loci were heterozygote
The aim of this study was to compare C. gariepinus and H. bidorsalis based on their genetic composition, which is an important tool in fish breeding and genetics
Summary
The family Clariidae belongs to the order Siluriformes and contributes significantly to annual freshwater fish production in South and Southeast Asia and Africa (Na Nakorn, 1999). Heterobranchus bidorsalis (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809) and Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) contribute immensely to the annual fresh water fish production in Nigeria (Fagbenro et al, 1993) They are commonly referred to as mud fishes or African catfish in various parts of Nigeria, and are important source of animal protein. Among the freshwater species for culture in Nigeria, H. bidorsalis and C. gariepinus are the most common and have received much attention and acceptability because of their economic importance and desirable attributes such as hardiness, high palatability, high fecundity, disease resistance and fast growth. They command high commercial values (Agbebi et al, 2009)
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