title: DNA barcoding of the ichthyofauna of Taal Lake, Philippines.
abstract: This study represents the first molecular survey of the ichthyofauna of Taal Lake and the first DNA barcoding attempt in Philippine fishes. Taal Lake, the third largest lake in the Philippines, is considered a very important fisheries resource and is home to the world's only freshwater sardine, Sardinella tawilis. However, overexploitation and introduction of exotic fishes have caused a massive decline in the diversity of native species as well as in overall productivity of the lake. In this study, 118 individuals of 23 native, endemic and introduced fishes of Taal Lake were barcoded using the partial DNA sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. These species belong to 21 genera, 17 families and 9 orders. Divergence of sequences within and between species was determined using Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) distance model, and a neighbour-joining tree was generated with 1000 bootstrap replications using the K2P model. All COI sequences for each of the 23 species were clearly discriminated among genera. The average within species, within genus, within family and within order percent genetic divergence was 0.60%, 11.07%, 17.67% and 24.08%, respectively. Our results provide evidence that COI DNA barcodes are effective for the rapid and accurate identification of fishes and for identifying certain species that need further taxonomic investigation.
authors.affiliation: DNA Barcoding Laboratory, Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines, 1101 Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.
authors.forename: Sean V L
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Aquilino
authors.forename: Jazzlyn M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tango
authors.forename: Ian K C
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Fontanilla
authors.forename: Roberto C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pagulayan
authors.forename: Zubaida U
authors.initials: ZU
authors.lastname: Basiao
authors.forename: Perry S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Jonas P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Quilang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D005618:Fresh Water; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010679:Philippines; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV