The ability of a 600- 700 base pair section of
mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers (COI, 16S & ITS-I)
to provide species level identifications has been demonstrated for
large taxonomic assemblages of animals such as insects, birds,
fishes and crustaceans. In the Indian context, there had been no
comprehensive attempt to determine the molecular sytematics,
evolutionary relationships or phylogeny within the crabs of genera
Scylla, Portunus and Charybdis which support the commercial
fisheries. The present study is the first attempt to test the suitability
of using a DNA barcode approach to discriminate accurately the
edible marine crabs from Indian waters. Partial sequence of COI,
16S and ITS-I revealed distinct species specific profiles supporting
the morphological data with low levels of intraspecific genetic
diversity. Differentiation of two species of Scylla, Scylla serrata and S.
tranquebarica using taxonomic tools is problematic especially based
on the adult morphology. DNA barcoding using COI and other regions
such as 16SrRNA and nuclear ITS fragment proved to be efficient in
discriminating the species. The study revealed that mitochondrial and
nuclear molecular genes will be an effective tool for discriminating
species of commercial importance and thus aiding in scientific
management of marine fishery resources.
