Mitochondrial signatures revealed panmixia in Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål 1775).

Mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus is a commercially important fish. The genetic stock structure of L. argentimaculatus from Indian waters was identified using mitochondrial ATPase 6 and ATPase 8, and cytochrome b (Cytb) genes. A 842 bp region of ATPase 6/8 genes and 1105 bp region of Cytb gene were amplified in 120 samples from six different locations along the Indian coast and obtained 58 and 66 haplotypes, respectively. The high haplotype and low nucleotide diversity values along with mismatch distribution, Tajima's D and Fu's Fs analysis suggested a genetic bottleneck events or founder effect, with subsequent population expansion in L. argentimaculatus. Coefficient of genetic differentiation (FST) values was low and nonsignificant for both ATPase 6/8 gene and Cytb genes indicating low genetic differentiation in L. argentimaculatus which can be managed as a unit stock in Indian waters.