Genetic diversity of the endangered species Sphyrna lewini (Griffith and Smith 1834) in Lombok based on mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

Sphyrna lewini is a shark with a wide distribution and one of the most endangered species. Although The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified this species as endangered and the species was already protected by law in Indonesia, S. lewini are currently high exploited because of their high economic value. This study conducted to analyze the genetic diversity and phylogenetic reconstruction the S. lewini landed in Lombok (n = 30) using a molecular approach based on the mitochondrial DNA. DNA amplification with the CO1 gene successfully identified 30 individuals of S. lewini with an average 625-bp nucleotide length. The value of haplotype diversity in Lombok (Hd) = 0.40 and nu π = 0.0018. The results of phylogenetic analysis using Neighbor-Joining (NJ) by Kimura 2-parameter model with 1000 bootstrap showed the connectivity of S. lewini landed in Lombok in 1 clade of 5 haplotypes. This study showed that low genetic diversity and significant differences in genetic structure between populations made this species vulnerable to extinction in Indonesia and required special treatment.