Genetic Variation at the Mitochondrial 16S rRNA Gene among Trichiurus lepturus (Teleostei:Trichiuridae) from Various Localities: Preliminary Evidence of a New Species from West Coast of Africa

The taxonomic classification of large head hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) is controversial because of similar body appearance and silvery coloration. Ten samples of T. lepturus caught off the west coast of Africa and 43 samples of T. lepturus caught off the western Atlantic coast and Indo-Pacific waters were used for sequence comparison of mitochondrial DNA encoded partial 16S ribosomal RNA(16S rRNA) gene. Ten samples of T. japonicus (obtained from various parts of southern Japan) were also included in the comparative analysis. For the 509 bp sequence determined, 58 sites were variable, of which 53 were parsimony informative. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian algorithm with Eupleurogrammus muticus as outgroup, showed that the haplotypes of T. lepturus obtained from the West coast of Africa, Indo-Pacific and Western Atlantic coast constituted clearly distinct and well supported lineages without any sharing and overlapping between them. Previous morphological analyses and this genetic study strongly indicate that the morphotypes of T. lepturus obtained from the West African coast are genetically distinct and probably represents a separate species.