title: Characterisation of Asian snakehead murrel Channa striata (Channidae) in Malaysia: an insight into molecular data and morphological approach.
abstract: Conservation is imperative for the Asian snakeheads Channa striata, as the species has been overfished due to its high market demand. Using maternal markers (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI)), we discovered that evolutionary forces that drove population divergence did not show any match between the genetic and morphological divergence pattern. However, there is evidence of incomplete divergence patterns between the Borneo population and the populations from Peninsular Malaysia. This supports the claim of historical coalescence of C. striata during Pleistocene glaciations. Ecological heterogeneity caused high phenotypic variance and was not correlated with genetic variance among the populations. Spatial conservation assessments are required to manage different stock units. Results on DNA barcoding show no evidence of cryptic species in C. striata in Malaysia. The newly obtained sequences add to the database of freshwater fish DNA barcodes and in future will provide information relevant to identification of species.
authors.affiliation: Genomics and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics & Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Li Min
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Genomics and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics & Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ; Zoology Branch, Forest Biodiversity Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kaviarasu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munian
authors.affiliation: Department of Fisheries Malaysia, Freshwater Fisheries Research Division, FRI Glami Lemi, Jelebu, 71650 Titi, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zulkafli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abd Rashid
authors.affiliation: Genomics and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics & Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ; Centre for Biotechnology in Agriculture Research, Division of Genetics & Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Subha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhassu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D005819:Genetic Markers; D008296:Malaysia; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D005819:Genetic Markers; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV