mtDNA marker reveals the first record of Sepiella japonica (Sasaki, ۱۹۲۹) in the marine waters of Pakistan

Cephalopods are the most intelligent, mobile and also the largest of all mollusks, with all members marine. Cuttlefish is a valuable fishery source and is used as human food because of its high nutritive value. Previously, only one Sepiidae species, Sepiella inermis, had been reported in Pakistan. Morphological species identification is now being replaced by molecular-based approaches due to their fast and reliable results. Here, we used mitochondrial fragments, cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) to investigate whether Sepiella japonica could be identified by the DNA barcoding technique. In the present investigation, a ۵۸۸ bp fragment of Cytochrome oxidase subunit ۱ sequence revealed ۹۸.۴۰% identity with S. japonica. The evolutionary distance between the S. japonica from Pakistan and India is ۰.۰۱۲. The neighbor-joining tree showed a close relationship between sequences of this species from India and Pakistan. The S. japonica sequence from this region was submitted to NCBI under accession number ON۴۳۰۶۰۰. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first that report S. japonica in Pakistani coastal waters. Presence of this commercially important species will be a valuable addition to the Pakistani coastal waters. Molecular information provides important assistance for taxonomic decisions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Sepiella japonica ، CO۱ ، DNA barcoding ، Pakistan ، Cuttlefish ، PCR