First record and phylogenetic relationship of the endangered species Betta foerschi (Vierke, 1979) (Anabantiformes : Osphronemidae) from Belitung Island, Indonesia

Abstract

Betta foerschi (Vierke, 1979) is a betta fish group from the Osphronemidae family which is only known from Central and West Borneo Island, Indonesia. This species is classified as an Endangered (EN) by the IUCN Red List, where the population has recently been moderately decreased. The new distribution of B. foerschi fish has been found on Belitung Island based on morphological similarities. In this research, we report the first record and phylogenetic relationship of B. foerschi based on the DNA Barcoding method using the Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene from Belitung Island Indonesia. Additionally, the DNA barcoding for B. foerschi not only represents the first DNA record for Belitung Island, but also the first sequence reported in the Genbank database. The result showed that B. foerschi forms the same clade within the Osphronemidae family and Betta genus solidifying its position in this taxonomic group with the closest genetic distance that occurs between B. foerschi and B. persephone of 0.15 using the Maximum Composite Likelihood model analysis.