Evaluation of DNA polymorphism in the Red Sea Epinephelus species using 12s rRNA and inter simple sequence repeats

Abstract

The true phylogenetic relation among <em>Epinephelus</em> species is under debate. The present investigation was designed for evaluation of DNA polymorphism in some Red sea <em>Epinephelus</em> species using 12s rRNA and Inter Simple Sequence repeats. DNA polymorphism values were detected and evaluated within all estimated fishes. Both applied techniques revealed that <em>E. malabaricus </em>is closely related to <em>E. summana</em>. The distance value between <em>E. chlorostigma</em> and <em>E. areolatus</em> is lower than the distance value between <em>E. chlorostigma</em> and <em>E. radiatus.</em> The Serranidae evolutionary variations were evaluated comparatively with other ray-finned fishes belonging to four fish genera (Carangidae, Labridae, Mugilidae and Cichlidae) based on 12s rRNA sequence variations (obtained from NCBI). The developed DNA markers were reliably branched in the evaluated fishes. More molecular investigations using more spatial and temporal fish samples should be carried out in the future for exploring the true <em>Epinephelus</em> species biodiversity in the Red sea.