Genetic identification and phylogenetic analysis of cichlids from the state of Tamaulipas by mitochondrial Cytochrome B gene sequencing

The aim of the present work was to perform a genetic verification of Herichthys species and assess their phylogenetic relationship by Cytochrome B gene resequencing in two sampling sites from Tamaulipas. Samples from Panal river in Playa Tepehuajes, Soto la Marina and samples from Carrizal river in Aldama were included. The complete sequences were analyzed with bioinformatics tools and the genetic similarity showed that Aldama samples resembled Herichthys carpintis species (> 99%) and Tepehuajes samples were confirmed as Herichthys cyanoguttatus. The assessed phylogenetic trees for genetic distance comparison among current samples and other cichlids species support the previously found results. This study suggest that cytochrome B gene is useful for genetic identification of cichlid species, such as from Tamaulipas.