MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF MARINE FISH (FAMILY: SPHYRAENIDAE) FROM THE COASTAL AREA OF LASBELA, BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Molecular identification aims to identify species using mitochondrial genetic markers. DNA barcoding is a very effective method for identifying the labeling of fish products to ensure consumer protection and quality. As barcoding is a reliable technique for identifying taxa from biological material, such as microscopic tissue, body parts, or fins.  The study represents of marine fish species in Pakistan, utilizing DNA barcoding to identify from coastal region of Lasbela, Balochistan. So, molecular marker like cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I (COI) based identification method had been extensively employed for identification of marine species. By using cytochrome c oxidase subunit, I (COI) gene as a marker for identification of specie Sphyraena jello (Cuvier, 1829), Family: Sphyraenidae were used collected, analyzed, and identified accurately resulting in successful submission to NCBI, GenBank analysis confirmed accuracy of identification as Sphyraena jello specie with exact match, as with sequence size of 665 and 442 base pair respectively as inferred from neighbor-joining tree analysis, further corroborated these findings. Study demonstrates the usefulness of DNA extraction method and barcoding as a reliable and efficient approach for species identification and phylogenetic lineage in marine fishes and supporting sustainable management of coastal fish bioresources.