Molecular characterization of portunid crabs (Charybdisferiatus, Portuns pelagicus and P. sanguinolentus) along Ratnagiri coast, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Investigations on crab biodiversity are hampered by insufficient taxonomic knowledge in spite of its abundance in total marine catch. Hence, in the present research three important Portunid crab species namely, Charybdis feriatus, Portunus pelagicus and P. sanguinolentus along Ratnagiri coast were clearly differentiated on the basis of Cyt b based DNA barcoding having 14.57, 2.29 and 21.14 divergences respectively. The phylogenetic comparison among various species showed that C. feriatus and P. pelagicus were evolutionary close (0.003) as compared to the distances between P. pelagicus and P. sanguinolentus (0.391) and P. sanguinolentus and C. feriatus (0.386). All studied species were further close to decapods Callinectessapidus (0.36), Scylla serrata (0.39) and S. olivacea (0.37). The findings based on Cyt b based DNA barcoding set apart each species and from other decapod crustaceans, which have important implications for precise taxonomy, stock identification and geographic variation.