DNA barcoding and phylogenetic analysis of two species populations of Diplodus from the eastern Mediterranean coasts of Turkey

Since Turkey is surrounded by seas on three sides and has different climatic characteristics, it has an extremely rich biodiversity. Identifying fish species and varieties is of great importance for protecting them from drought conditions seen in recent years and using them as a source of human food protein. The purpose of this study was to identify the genetic diversity of Diplodus, one of the fish species the importance of which is under appreciated, in Turkish seas. To this end, the polymorphism between the populations of two species (Diplodus vulgaris and Diplodus sargus) from the Sparidae (Coral fish) family was determined using the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene, which is 652 base pairs long. 143 specimens of Diplodus were collected from the locations in the Eastern Mediterranean (İskenderun and Mersin) and Western Mediterranean (Antalya). The COI gene was amplified by PCR, genetic diversity analyses of these loci were carried out, and a phylogenetic tree was created to show the relationships between the isolates with a high difference. In conclusion, based on the haplotype and nucleotide diversity patterns, it was found that the COI gene had a low genetic variation among the populations.