Genetic Analysis of Sixbar Grouper Wild Population along Tanjung Sirik to Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu Sarawak (original) (raw)

2016, Proceedings of the Aquatic Science Colloquium 2016: Experiences Sharing in Aquatic Science Research IV: Malaysia Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Cruise and other Aquatic Science Research

Groupers are keystone species, generally targeted by small scale artisanal fisheries, sports fishing groups and aquaculturists. Reduction in population size may happen over time leading to inbreeding which affect the overall health of the population. Despite the importance of groupers as one of the commercial landings in Sarawak, genetic baseline data on grouper populations inhabiting Sarawak waters is still unavailable. Therefore, this study aims to carry out genetic analysis on six banded grouper collected during fisheries resource survey in 2014, along coastal areas of Tanjung Sirik to Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu Sarawak, using standard molecular biology techniques. A total of 517 bp of Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene had been sequenced and matched E. sexfasciatus with accession number KJ594989 in GenBank. Out of 15 individuals, eleven haplotypes were recorded, with relatively high haplotype diversity (0.93). Genetic divergence values among samples ranged between 0 to 0.97%, confirming all samples from one species. Both Neighbour Joining and Maximum Parsimony phylogenetic trees shown the same tree topology, concluding the monophyly of E. sexfasciatus from Sarawak waters with strong support of 100 % bootstrap value. These genetic baseline data suggest that the grouper populations in the areas are healthy and hopefully this resource could be used in a sustainable and responsible manner in future.

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