Genetic diversity analyses for population structuring in Channa striata using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA regions with implication to their conservation in Indian waters

The snakehead murrel Channa striata, with extensive distribution in Asia, is important in both culture and capture fisheries. Wild sub-populations of C. striata from Indian waters were analyzed in the present study using mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and nuclear microsatellite loci for genetic diversity assessment and sub-population structuring with the expectations that this fish have resulted in isolated sub-populations. A total of 191 specimens were collected for the study from eight distinctly located rivers from India. The cyt b analyses showed moderate to high, while microsatellites indicated low to moderate levels of inter-sub-populations' diversity. Tapti sub-population showed high level of genetic variation in cyt b analyses but low in SSRs, with a recent bottleneck. Betwa sub-population showed minimum haplotype variation, while Brahmaputra exhibited minimum expected heterozygosity at all the loci. Cyt b gene revealed 45 polymorphic sites with overall nucleotide diversity 0.00924 and haplotype diversity 0.9301. In phylogenetic analysis and haplotypes network, Chaliyar population appeared in different lineage. Chaliyar sub-population revealed maximum mean private alleles for microsatellite loci, while Tapti showed one private allele and Brahmaputra without private allele. The results indicate a gradual loss in number of private alleles within the species, which might be a concern for its conservation in the future.