DNA Barcoding of Four Ornamental Fishes of Genus Botia from Eastern Himalaya

Botia loaches are high demanding species having both ornamental and economical important food value and contribute to a major share of the world market for beautiful coloured indigenous ornamental fish. Their identification is difficult due to morphological variation. Genetic variation amongst the four species namely Botia alomorhae, Botia dario, Botia lohachata and Botia rostrata using mtDNA were studied. Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene (655 bp) was amplified using PCR and sequenced. The pairwise genetic distances among Botia species ranged from 0.002 to 0.112. The interspecies Kimuras 2- parameter pair-wise distance was highest (0.112) between Botia dario and B. lohachata and lowest (0.002) for B. almorhae and B. lohachata. The phylogenetic tree showed that B. almorhae and B. lohachata formed a monophyletic group (supported by 100 % bootstrap value). The present study is helpful for identification of the Endangered and Vulnerable Botia species from Eastern Himalayan region and population studies, management and conservation programs.