'Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM Press)'
Abstract
Orange-spotted groupers (Epinephelus coioides) are marine fish which can be found in the state of Terengganu (in Malaysia)
and are economically important. Overfishing and fish farmers’ dependency on wild orange-spotted grouper seed fish have
caused a decline in their numbers. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of wild orange-spotted
grouper populations in Terengganu via partial cytochrome b (cyt-b) gene analysis. A total of 60 fish, which were reared from
wild seed fish, were collected from farms in Besut and Setiu, Terengganu. Their DNA was extracted using the Qiagen Blood
and Tissue kit. PCR amplification was conducted using cyt-b primers, and a sequence of 460 bp in length was obtained for
each sample. Next, phylogenetic analysis was performed to study the relationships among the individuals. The haplotype and
nucleotide diversities of the populations were investigated to measure genetic diversity. The haplotype diversity (Hd) of E.
coioides was relatively low for both Besut (Hd = 0.4161) and Setiu (Hd = 0.8782) populations. The nucleotide diversity (π)
for both Besut and Setiu populations was also low. Moreover, 15 haplotypes were identified among the 60 individuals, with
33 individuals sharing a single haplotype (Hap01). These findings similar with a previous study that reported that seed fish
dependent can led to a decline in grouper numbers and in turn cause genetic deprivation in the population