Molecular identification of native ornamental fish Aphanius vladykovi and Aphanius ginaonis using cytochrome oxidase gene in Iran

This research was carried out with the aim of molecular identification and using cytochrome oxidase gene of two species of ornamental fish native to Iran entitled Aphanius vladykovi and Aphanius ginaonis. Five samples of each fish were collected from Sarcheshmeh Park (Aloni city, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province) and Genu spring (Bandar Abbas) and after morphological identification and DNA extraction, they were sequenced. Then using BioEdit software and the NCBI database, the amount of homology of the obtained sequences was measured. The analysis of the evolution tree was performed by the closest proximity and parsimony method based on the Kimura 2-parameter model using mega software. The results showed that these species were genetically close to each other in different parts of Fars province (A. vladykovi) and Turkey, and a clade with two sister clusters next to the species belonging to the northern offerings more than Turkey includes Aphanius anatoliae, Aphanius sureyanus, Aphanius maeandricus and Aphanius iconii. The greatest genetic differences can be observed between the specimens of Aphanius vladykovi from Sarcheshmeh Park spring and Aphanius sureyanus from Turkey, which was not unexpected due to the deep geographical gap between the mentioned regions. At the same time, the species Aphanius Genu shows itself in a separate clade with a large genetic distance. Various geological factors caused Genu fish to separate itself from other studied species and to hide in Hormozgan region. As a result, the gene flow between this region and other regions has stopped, and caused the Aphanius ginaonis in Hormozgan province to remain as a unique species.