Morphology and molecular assessment of two Seastars species (Echinodermata: Asteroidea: Asterinidae) from Chabahar coastal (Oman sea)

In this study, sea stars Aquilonastra watersi and Patiriella paradoxa were collected from the rocky intertidal area in Tis Port on the western coast.and the rocky shallows depths of 7-8m at Konarak on the Iranian eastern coast of Chabahar Bay, respectively in November 2014. Specimens were collected in plastic sampling boxes containing seawater and transferred to the laboratory of Chabahar Maritime University. The specimens were morphologically assessed. Then in order to examine gene sequences, DNA was extracted by CTAB method and after performing PCR, mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. The phylogenetic-trees for these species were drawn by Maximum Likelihood methods. The evaluations of results showed that despite differences in morphology, A. watersi is sister group of Aquilonastra. Batheri. Based on the results P. paradoxa from present study andP. regularis are in a monophyletic clade, supported by high bootstrap.