title: Genetic comparison of two color morphs of northern snakehead (Channa argus) and Chnannidae family.
abstract: Relationships of two species of Channa argus (northern snakeheads) named "Bicolor type" and "White type", as well as other six Channa species were investigated based on their partial sequence of mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA genes in the present study. For the Channa family, the average genetic distance was 0.0863 with the inter-species genetic distance ranged from 0.0173 to 0.1384, and the average intra-species genetic distance in the genus channa was estimated as 0.00273 (range: 0.0019 to 0.0038). For the two C. argus species, the mean pair-wise genetic distance between "Bicolor type" and "White type" northern snakehead was estimated as 0.00218, which was within the intra-species genetic distance interval for Channa species, indicating that they belonged to the same species at molecular level. Moreover, these snakeheads can be divided into two distinct groups via 16S rRNA, which might be more accurate for Channa classification than traditional method based on the absence or presence of the pelvic fins of the fish.
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Aiguo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Wenzhao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.|b Qingyuan North River Fishery Science Institute , Qingyuan , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Zhengguang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: c College of Life Science, Foshan University , Foshan , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Shaolin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Junzhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: a College of Marine Sciences , South China Agricultural University , Guangzhou , Guangdong , China.
authors.forename: Jixing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: 16S rRNA; genetic comparison; northern snakehead