Molecular Systematic Investigations of Three Fin Fish Cichlid Species of Oreochromis niloticus (Nile Tilapia), Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) and Astronotus ocellatus (Oscar Cichlid)

Fisheries in India contribute significantly to the total GDP of agriculture and earn significant foreign exchange. Aquaculture is playing an important role in India and is bestowed with a huge biodiversity of aquatic organisms. India ranks second in total fish production in the world. Nile tilapia has become the world’s second most popular farmed fish, after carps. Oscars is a popular aquarium fish around the world. In the present study, efforts were made to analyze the extent of divergence or similarity among three cichlid finfishes (Nile Tilapia, GIFT Tilapia, and Oscar Cichlid) using molecular biology techniques such as Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). The Phylogenetic tree was constructed using PhyElph software to study the evolutionary relationship between the three cichlid finfish species. The Phylogenetic or evolutionary relationship was established for the three fishes, Nile tilapia, GIFT, and Oscar cichlid, with the Phylogenetic tree. It was found that Nile tilapia and GIFT share a recent common ancestor, while Oscar cichlid does not share any evolutionary relationship with Nile tilapia and GIFT.