Biodiversity of Demersal Fish Communities in the Cosmonaut Sea Revealed by DNA Barcoding Analyses

The Cosmonaut Sea is one of the least accessed regions in the Southern Ocean, and our knowledge about the fish biodiversity in the region is sparse. In this study, we provided a description of demersal fish diversity in the Cosmonaut Sea by analysing cytochrome oxidase I ( COI ) barcodes of 98 fish...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes
Main Authors: Hai Li, Xing Miao, Rui Wang, Yuzhuo Liao, Yilin Wen, Ran Zhang, Longshan Lin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024
Subjects:
Antarctic fishes
COI
cryptic species
Southern Ocean
species identification
Genetics
QH426-470
Antarc*
Antarctic
Cosmonaut sea
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15060691
https://doaj.org/article/e8f3004c9d0742ea8a63ea12ebfedc84
Description
Summary:The Cosmonaut Sea is one of the least accessed regions in the Southern Ocean, and our knowledge about the fish biodiversity in the region is sparse. In this study, we provided a description of demersal fish diversity in the Cosmonaut Sea by analysing cytochrome oxidase I ( COI ) barcodes of 98 fish samples that were hauled by trawling during the 37th and 38th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) cruises. Twenty-four species representing 19 genera and 11 families, namely, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Bathylagidae, Channichthyidae, Liparidae, Macrouridae, Muraenolepididae, Myctophidae, Nototheniidae, Paralepididae and Zoarcidae, were discriminated and identified, which were largely identical to local fish occurrence records and the general pattern of demersal fish communities at high Antarctic shelf areas. The validity of a barcoding gap failed to be detected and confirmed across all species due to the indicative signals of two potential cryptic species. Nevertheless, DNA barcoding still demonstrated to be a very efficient and sound method for the discrimination and classification of Antarctic fishes. In the future, various sampling strategies that cover all geographic sections and depth strata of the Cosmonaut Sea are encouraged to enhance our understanding of local fish communities, within which DNA barcoding can play an important role in either molecular taxonomy or the establishment of a dedicated local reference database for eDNA metabarcoding analyses.

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