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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Bangladesh has substantially increased aquaculture production over the last few decades, and the exotic species share a significant portion of the total fish production. Although exotic species are contributing to aquaculture production, a few of them are causing biodiversity loss and genetic erosion of native species. The African catfish Clarias gariepinus is a highly carnivorous species and predates small indigenous freshwater fishes when escaping into natural water bodies. In addition, the hybridization of C. batrachus and C. gariepinus is considered a threat to the indigenous population. Although the government of Bangladesh has banned the farming of C. gariepinus, this species has been identified in local markets, and evidence of hybridization between C. gariepinus and C. batrachus has been found. This study revealed genetic erosion of native C. batrachus by the gene sequences of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b. The phylogenetic tree confirmed the occurrences of hybridization between C. gariepinus and C. batrachus. Genetic erosion in the native catfish population is alarming for aquaculture sustainability and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh.

Abstract

The African catfish Clarias gariepinus has been introduced for aquaculture in Bangladesh due to the scarcity of indigenous C. batrachus fingerlings. However, the government of Bangladesh has banned the farming of C. gariepinus due to the carnivorous nature of this species. Recently C. gariepinus has been reported by fish farmers and consumers in Bangladesh, and unplanned hybridization between native and exotic species has been suspected. This study attempts to know the purity of C. batrachus by analyzing mitochondrial genes. Both directly sequenced and retrieved Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (Cytb) genes from C. gareipinus and C. batrachus were analyzed by MEGA software. The morphologically dissimilar C. batrachus showed the least genetic distance (0.295) from C. gariepinus, which provided evidence of hybridization between the two species. Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees showed that C. batrachus from Bangladesh did not cluster with C. batrachus of other countries, instead C. batrachus clustered with the exotic C. gariepinus. The suspected hybrid formed sister taxa with the exotic C. gariepinus. The study corroborates the genetic deterioration of C. batrachus by unplanned hybridization with the invasive C. gariepinus. Unplanned hybridization has deleterious consequences; therefore, immediate action is necessary for aquaculture sustainability and biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh.

Details

Title
Invasion of African Clarias gariepinus Drives Genetic Erosion of the Indigenous C. batrachus in Bangladesh
Author
Parvez, Imran 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rukaya Akter Rumi 2 ; Ray, Purnima Rani 2 ; Hassan, Mohammad Mahbubul 3 ; Sultana, Shirin 4 ; Rubaiya Pervin 5 ; Suwanno, Suvit 6 ; Pradit, Siriporn 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand; [email protected] (I.P.); [email protected] (S.S.); Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh; [email protected] (R.A.R.); [email protected] (P.R.R.); [email protected] (M.M.H.) 
 Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh; [email protected] (R.A.R.); [email protected] (P.R.R.); [email protected] (M.M.H.) 
 Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh; [email protected] (R.A.R.); [email protected] (P.R.R.); [email protected] (M.M.H.); School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, University of Florida/IFAS, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL 32653, USA 
 Fisheries Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh; [email protected] 
 Department of Fisheries Management, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh; [email protected] 
 Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand; [email protected] (I.P.); [email protected] (S.S.) 
 Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand; [email protected] (I.P.); [email protected] (S.S.); Coastal and Climate Change Research Center, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand 
First page
252
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20797737
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2632248389
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.