MORPHOMETRIC AND POPULATION GENETIC ANALYSIS OF ENDAGERED CATFISH RITA RITA FROM RIVER INDUS AND CHENAB PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The common name of Rita rita fish is Rita that is a commercially important catfish, valued for its good taste and rich protein content. However, there is a lack of sufficient local data on its molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis. R. rita specimens were sampled from four distinct geographical sites in Punjab province, along the Indus and Chenab rivers in Pakistan. Morphometric measurements and molecular techniques were employed to assess intraspecific variations among populations of R. rita. Mitochondrial DNA was extracted from R. rita tissue, and the COI gene was utilized for molecular identification. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to estimate variation levels. Morphometric data clearly segregated R. rita from different locations into two distinct categories, accounting for 99.7% of cumulative variability. Non-significance (P < 0.05) among R. rita indicated a unique control haplotype localized within the sub-population. Intraspecific distances ranged from 0.000 to 0.068 across the four populations, while sequences retrieved from the NCBI database spanned 0.000 to 0.059, with sequence diversity ranging from 0.000 to 0.0071 in this intraspecific comparison. A cladogram was constructed to visualize the phylogenetic relationships among R. rita from different geographical locations. The phylogenetic analysis of R. rita populations in this study provides valuable insights into genetic variations within the species, essential for devising effective conservation strategies in Pakistan's fisheries management programs. The study identified significant intraspecific genetic variations in R. rita across different locations in Punjab, Pakistan, using morphometric and molecular techniques, providing crucial insights for effective conservation strategies.