Assessment of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among grouper species Epinephelus spp. from the Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf

Abstract

Understanding of fish genetic characterization plays a vital role in the conservation and utilization of fish genetic resources of grouper species. The present study was carried out to assess the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships in five grouper species, Epinephelus spp. from eastern Saudi Arabian coast using two molecular marker systems, inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and microsatellite (SSR) markers. In total, 219 individuals grouper specimens ( Epinephelus tauvina, E. coioides, E. bleekeri, E. malabaricus, and E. areolatus ) were genotyped with 10 ISSR and 11 SSR selected primers. The ISSR produced 94 DNA fragments, of which 44 were polymorphic with an average of 2.13 fragment per primer. While SSR primers generated 107 alleles, all of them were polymorphic with an average 9.72 per primer. ISSR and SSR techniques demonstrated a high level of gene diversity and genetic distances illustrated by UPGMA dendrograms among the grouper species. The results proved that the SSR markers were highly informative and efficient in detecting genetic variability and relationships of the Epinephelus spp.

Research Progress on Nutritional Value, Preservation and Processing of Fish—A Review

“…Fish are considered highly nutritious products of the aquaculture system due to the presence of well-balanced macronutrients such as proteins, lipids and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals [ 4 ]. These fish are a good source of human food that promotes growth and protection of the body from a variety of health diseases such as cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases and prevents rickets and mental diseases in children [ 5 ].…”

Genetic species identification and population structure of grouper Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1822) collected from fish markets along the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea

“…Groupers are usually identified by their body and head shape, color patterns, form, as well as size of the fin elements ( Heemstra & Randall, 1993 ), the homogeneous morphology of which can cause inter-species misidentification among certain species of the Epinephelus genus ( Smith, 1971 ; Rimmer & Glamuzina, 2019 ; Hassanien & Al-Rashada, 2021 ). The orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides with a wide distribution in the Indo-West Pacific, is one of the primary piscatorial resources, both globally and in the western Indian Ocean, and is traded as the most valuable grouper species in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea region ( Heemstra & Randall, 1993 ).…”