Ministry of Agriculture , Livestock and Irrigation
Department of Livestock and Aquaculture Research
Research on the molecular analysis of commercial fish species in
Myanmar (Ongoing Research)
Aye Min Win Aye
Date - 5- 3 - 2025
Place- Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw
Introduction
Myanmar is a major region for aquatic resources and fisheries
Studying the genetic diversity of commercial fish species is crucial for sustainable resource management and
conservation
Fishing has been an integral part of Myanmar’s subsistence and small-scale economic activities
With the growth of the aquaculture industry, understanding fish species diversity became increasingly necessary
Early research relied on morphological features such as body size, fin shape, and coloration to differentiate fish
species.
However, these studies were limited in precision and were insufficient for accurately distinguishing closely related
species.
Molecular phylogenetic enabled researchers to explore genetic relationships and species diversity systematically
These methods facilitated in-depth analysis of commercial fish species, aiding in sustainable fishery management
Genetic techniques are essential for identifying commercial species and detecting hybrids (e.g., Tilapia hybrids) that
may influence market value and ecological balance.
Genetic diversity studies are critical for assessing the extinction risks of species and implementing conservation
strategies.
Maintaining genetic variation ensures ecosystem resilience and biodiversity.
Understanding genetic traits enables the development of selective breeding programs to enhance aquaculture
productivity.
Improved bloodstock quality supports sustainable growth in the fisheries sector.
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assembling a standardized reference DNA sequence library for all fish species in Myanmar
To create a reference DNA sequence library for all fish species in Myanmar
Analysis is targeting a 650 base pair region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene.
The barcode sequence from any fish, fillet, fin, egg or larva can be matched against these reference
sequences using BOLD; the Barcode of Life Data System (http://www.barcodinglife.org).
The benefits of barcoding fishes include facilitating species identification, highlighting cases of range
expansion for known species, flagging previously overlooked species and enabling identifications where
traditional methods cannot be applied.
The Barcode of Life initiative was originally motivated by the large number of species, taxonomic
difficulties and the limited number of expert taxonomists.
Most of the species were clearly delineated. However, presence of intra-specific and inter-specific genetic
distance overlap in few species, revealed the existence of putative cryptic species. A reliable DNA
barcode reference library, established in our study provides an adequate knowledge base to the groups
of non-taxonomists, researchers, biodiversity managers and policy makers in sketching effective
conservation measures for this ecosystem.
Freshwater fishes support rural livelihoods in the region but they are among the most threatened
organism in Indo-Myanmar region, due to unsustainable fishing practices, invasive species, and habitat
alteration and loss. Further, level of threat to the entire river ecosystem of the region could drastically
increase in near future due to several anthropogenic activities. Therefore, sustainable management of the
aquatic resources of the region is desperately needed to conserve the icthyofauna. A prerequisite for this
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is a careful and accurate assessment of fish species to devise appropriate conservation measures for the
Molecular approaches are being used
to identify potential species for aquaculture
to identify species that are not readily identifiable by external appearance
to identify species that are not readily identifiable by external appearance and
to address the problem of fraud and misidentification of species in seafood exports
Therefore, genetic research is being conducted initially at DLAR
The Department of Livestock and Aquculture Research will conduct molecular analysis of freshwater/Marine
fish species in Myanmar and collect DNA samples of most species to determine whether they match
previously described distribution records and to compile new records of some species that have not yet been
previously distributed in the study area. Department of Livestock Research to be used the information
obtained will serve as a DNA barcode library of fish species for the as an easily accessible reference for
researchers and students
This study provides basic survey data for the conservation and scientific management of fish diversity in
Myanmar
This information will be useful for the ecological protection and high-quality development of Myanmar river
basins
Genomic DNA was extracted using a Biorad Fish DNA Kit following the manufacturer’s instructions. The
mitochondrial cytochrome coxidase subunit I (COI) gene was used as a molecular marker gene and was
amplified with the primers of Biorad DNA kit. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed by kit’s
protocol. Unpurified PCR products will sent to ……………for bidirectional Sanger sequencing.
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Collecting samples of fish species from fish markets in various regions where
freshwater and saltwater fish species are caught
၉
Morphological characters, weight, and fin count of sample fish species were recorded
before DNA extraction
1၀
Data recording of fish species for matching using morphology
No.
Species
Channa striata (င ါးရ) ံ့
၁။
Morphology
Remark
Dorsal Soft ray – 42, , Anal Soft ray -24
Cirrhinus mrigala (င ါးကြငါးဖ ြူ)
၂။
Dorsal Soft ray-14, Anal Soft ray -8
Anabas testudineus (င ါးပဖြေမ)
၃။
Dorsal Soft ray -15, Anal Soft ray -15
Wallago attu (င ါးဘတ)
၄။
Fishbase
updated Version
06/2024
Dorsal Soft ray -5, Anal Soft ray -91
Lates calcarifer (ြြတစ)
၅။
Dorsal Soft ray -6, Anal Soft ray -11
၁၁
Data recording of fish species for matching using morphology
No.
၆။
Species
Labeo rohita (င ါးဖမစချငါး)
Morphology
Remark
Dorsal Soft ray -15, Anal Soft ray -15
Monopterus cuchia (င ါးရှဉံ့ြေ ါးမွဲ)
၇။
Dorsal Soft ray -
, Anal Soft ray -
Monopterus albus (င ါးရှဉံ့ြေ ါးနီ)
၈။
Dorsal Soft ray –
, Anal Soft ray -
Notoperus notoperus (င ါး ယ)
Dorsal Soft ray -4, Anal Soft ray -117
Osteobrama alfredianus (င ါး နါးမ)
Dorsal Soft ray -8 , Anal Soft ray -8
၉။
၁၀။
Fishbase
updated
Version
06/2024
Data recording of fish species for matching using morphology
No.
Species
Morphology
၁၁။
Barbonymus gonionotus (င ါးခါးမ)
Dorsal Soft ray -10 , Anal Soft ray -9
၁၂။
Labeo catla (င ါးသငါးပခ ငါးြေ)
Dorsal Soft ray -10 , Anal Soft ray -15
၁၃။
Congresox talabonoides,
Indian pike conger (င ါးပရွှေ)
Dorsal Soft ray -235 , Anal Soft ray -90
90
၁၄။
Heteropnenustes fossilis (င ါးြျညါး)
Dorsal Soft ray -10 , Anal Soft ray -15
၁၅။
Clarias batrachus (င ါးခူ)
Dorsal Soft ray -69 , Anal Soft ray -50
Remark
Fishbase
updated
Version
06/2024
Materials used in molecular genetic studies of fish species
Figure (1) DNA kits used in research
Figure (2) Laboratory equipment used in research
1၂
Steps for extracting DNA from commercially available fish species after sampling
Fig (3) Sterilisation the laboratory
accessories
Fig (4) Weighing the required amount of
tissue sample for DNA extraction
Fig(5) conducting the DNA Kit Protocol
Fig(6) Incubate 55° C for 10min
Fig (7) Grinding the tissue sample
Fig(8) Centrifugsing
၁၄
Fig(9) DNA of the 15 commercial fish species
၁၅
PCR amplification of DNA of commercial fish species
၁၅
Performing gel electrophoresis
၁၅
The visible lane of the samples are ~650 bp , it suggests successful amplification of the target mitochondrial gene
၁၅
Thank you for your attension