Genetic evidence on the occurrence of Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale, 1918) in Eastern Ghats, India: first report from mainland India

Abstract

Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale) was described from Inle Lake (Southern Shan State) in Myanmar, and is currently considered as a valid species in the Channa gachua species-group. Notwithstanding several detailed studies on Channa from India in the recent, none has mentioned the occurrence of C. harcourtbutleri in the Indian mainland. In continuation to the faunal diversity exploration in Eastern Ghats, India, a few specimens in the C. gachua species-group were collected from the river Sabri sub-basin of the river Godavari basin in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh which was identified as C. harcourtbutleri through DNA barcoding. This is a first report on occurrence of the species in the wild in the Eastern Ghats, India.