Not AvailableThe 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.Not Availabl
