Mitochondrial ATPase 6/8 genes reveal genetic divergence in the Coilia dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848) populations of north east and northwest coasts of India.

The golden anchovy, Coilia dussumieri, though possessing discontinuous distribution along northeast and northwest coasts of India, it is being managed as unit stock for fishery assessment purposes. By considering the need for stock specific management of the species, mitochondrial ATP synthase 6 and 8 (ATPase 6/8) genes were analyzed for delineating genetic stock structure of the species. Sequence analysis revealed a total of 34 haplotypes across four populations from both the east and west coasts of India. Haplotype diversity (h) was found in the range of 0.7421-0.9368. Similarly, nucleotide diversity (π) varied from 0.0012 to 0.0025. AMOVA results indicated a high total variance of 72.66% between east and west coast populations and less (1.34%) among populations within the respective coast. Phylogenetic tree constructed using pair wise FST also indicated the genetic divergence of populations of east and west coasts of India. The findings of the present study will be helpful in developing stock specific management measures for conservation and sustainable utilization of the species.