DNA Barcoding Revealing the Parrotfish (Perciformes: Scaridae) Diversity of the Coral Reef Ecosystem of the South China Sea

Yayuan Xiao, Chunhou Li, Teng Wang (), Lin Lin, Jiatong Guo, Qiumei Quan and Yong Liu ()
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Yayuan Xiao: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Chunhou Li: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Teng Wang: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Lin Lin: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Jiatong Guo: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Qiumei Quan: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China
Yong Liu: Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation & Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Guangzhou 510300, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: Parrotfish are an important group in the coral reef ecosystem that maintain ecological stability and have a close relationship with coral reefs. Around the world, parrotfish and coral reefs are being destroyed due to human activities and global climate change. Here, we investigated the diversity of parrotfish in the South China Sea (SCS) using DNA barcoding, and initially established a DNA barcode database of the SCS parrotfish. A total of 1620 parrotfish specimens, belonging to 23 species of 6 genera in the family Scaridae, were collected in the SCS, accounting for 64% of the parrotfish species in the SCS. Genetic distance analysis at each taxonomic level showed that the average genetic distance was 0.23% within species, 8.52% within genus and 13.89% within family. The average inter-specific distance was 37.04-fold the intra-specific distance. Barcode gap analysis showed that 6 of the 21 parrotfish species with multiple samples had no barcode gap, resulting in an overall identification success rate of 74%. The ABGD analysis revealed that there could be 37 potential operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and the BIN analysis showed 32 identifiable taxonomic units, which by far exceed the number of morphologically previously known species. Overall, this study complements the lack of parrotfish DNA barcode sequences, and our findings provide an important stepping-stone to further study the diversity of parrotfish in South China.

Keywords: parrotfish; DNA barcoding; COI; the South China Sea; coral reef (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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