Mitochondrial ATPase 6/8 genes to infer the population genetic structure of silver pomfret fish Pampus argenteus along the Indian waters.

Silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus is an economically important seafood species. The fishery resource of pomfret in Indian waters shows a dwindling catch since the last few years and the pomfrets caught were mostly undersized which calls for immediate attempts for management of resources. An accurate definition of population structure is important for management of this species. The genetic stock structure of P. argenteus distributed along Indian coast was identified using analysis of 842 bp of complete ATPase 6/8 genes of mitochondrial DNA. Altogether, 83 silver pomfret (P. argenteus) collected from 4 locations along Indian coast (Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) were sequenced. Twenty four haplotypes were identified among 83 individuals with haplotype diversity (0.87) and nucleotide diversity (0.0025). The significant pair-wise FST and AMOVA values, between samples from West Bengal (east coast) and other locations along the west coast (Gujarat and Kerala) indicated the occurrence of distinct population structure in silver pomfret along the coast.