Genetic diversity and population structure of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) in Kenya: implication for conservation and aquaculture

Abstract

African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, is an important species in aquaculture and fisheries in Kenya. Mitochondrial D-loop control region was used to determine genetic variation and population structure in samples of C. gariepinus from 10 sites including five natural populations (Lakes Victoria (LVG), Kanyaboli (LKG), Turkana (LTA), Baringo (LBA) and Jipe (LJP), and five farms (Sangoro Aquaculture Center (SAN), Sagana Aquaculture Centre (SAG), University of Eldoret Fish Farm (UoE), Kibos Fish Farm (KIB), and Wakhungu Fish Farm (WKU)) in Kenya. Similarly, samples from eight localities (four natural populations: LVG/LKG, LTA, LBA, and four farmed: SAN, SAG, KIB, UoE) were genotyped using six microsatellite DNA loci. For the D-loop control region, samples from natural sites exhibited higher numbers of haplotypes and haplotype diversities compared to farmed samples, and 88.2% of haplotypes were private. All except LJP and LTA shared haplotypes, and the highest number of shared haplotypes (8) was detected in KIB. The 68 haplotypes we found in 268 individuals grouped into five phylogenetic clades: LVG/LKG, LTA, LBA, LJP and SAG. Haplotypes of farmed C. gariepinus mostly have haplotypes typical of LVG/LKG, and some shared haplotypes of the LBA population. Microsatellite analysis showed farmed samples have higher numbers of alleles than natural samples, but higher observed and expected heterozygosity levels were found in samples of natural populations. Fifteen pair-wise comparisons had significantly different FST values. All samples were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Samples from the eight localities grouped into four genetic clusters (LVG/LKG, LTA, LBA and SAG), indicating genetically distinct populations, which should be considered for aquaculture and conservation.