DISTRIBUTION OF TROPICAL EEL GENUS Anguilla IN INDONESIA WATER BASED ON SEMI-MULTIPLEX PCR
Abstract: Tropical eels living
in Indonesian waters are known to be composed of several species, but their
real listing together with their distribution ranges need to be established.
The main difficulties are the very high number of islands with perennial rivers
where these species are living during the growth phase of their life cycle. It
is difficult, sometimes impossible, to determine the species using
morphological characters, moreover on glass eels. In order to establish the
geographic distribution of tropical eels of the genus Anguilla in Indonesian
waters, a total 1,115 specimens were collected between 2008 and 2012. Sample
collection was done in the growth habitats that are rivers and estuaries by
commercial nets of different categories according to the fish size. All samples
were identified genetically using the recently developed semimultiplex PCR
method. We recognized four species and subspecies with wide distribution:
Anguilla bicolor bicolor, Anguilla bicolor pacifica, Anguilla marmorata, and
Anguilla interioris; two species with limited distribution, close to endemism:
Anguilla celebesensis and Anguilla borneensis and one subspecies Anguilla
nebulosa nebulosa that is only spread in river flowing into Indian Ocean.
Keywords: Anguilla spp.;
semi-multiplex PCR; tropical eel; distribution range; Indonesian waters
Author: Melta Rini Fahmi,
Laurent Pouyaud, Patrick Berrebi
Journal Code: jpperikanangg120039