الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Catfishes of the River Nile represent one of the most peculiar fish groups in Africa. They provide a versatile milieu for genetic, ecological, and economic applications. Many of them are, till now, subjected to taxonomic argumentation. The sturdy, resilient, and extremely tolerant North African sharp tooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Family: Clariidae) has been introduced to many areas in the world for aquaculture. Herein, we provide the first North African mitochondrial phylogenetic analysis for the commonest commercial North African siluriformes, and detailed genetic population analysis for C. gariepinus. Samples of common northern River Nile siluriform species were collected for phylogenetic correlations, namely C. gariepinus, Bagrus bajad and Chysichthys auratus (Bagridae), and Malapterurus electricus (Malapteruridae). They wereall subjected to DNA barcoding.Moreover, C. gariepinus samples werecollected from the Egyptian River Nile in Aswan, Assiut, and Shebin El-Kom cities. The results indicated a potent phylogenetic proximity betweenC. gariepinusand M. electricus from one side, and B. bajad and C. auratus from the other. Also, there was a clearly low genetic diversity of C. gariepinus in the Nile and the world in general. Finally, a clear connectivity pattern could be identified for the spread of C. gariepinus from Africa as the major hot spot for species haplotype diversity, to Asia and South as the key world recipients. The results could provide an insight on the role of dispersal in enhancing species diversity, rather than a shallow pattern of genetic mixing in its natural habitat. |