Misidentification of Three Mullet Species Under Family Mugilidae Due to Differential Pigmentation Pattern

Abstract

The mullet species under the family Mugilidae, considered to be a commercially important teleost, are mostly found in coastal waters throughout the world, distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas. In terms of taxonomic study, biogeography and distribution pattern of mullets remain unclear due to difficulty in separating the species based on morphological characters. Thus, there is a need to study the taxonomy of Mugilidae. Further, phylogeny of family Mugilidae also exceptionally obscure at inter and intraspecific levels challenges exist in species under the family. The present study, has brought a new observation in form of temporary black dots (patrial pigmentation abnormality), especially in three species of Mugilidae were observed. Sometimes these pigmentation pattern can lead to misidentification or identification as different species. Further, DNA Barcoding (COI gene) and morpho-meristic analysis performed to resolve the ambiguity in the species identification, confirmed these species as Mugil cephalus, Planiliza sp., Osteomugil perusii. Present study will help to avoid the misidentification of species, which will assist biologists and managers for acquiring more information their distribution and life history pattern.