mtDNA Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI) Aanalyses, zoogeography and Morphology of the Red Shoulder Wrasse, Stethojulis bandanensis (Bleeker, 1851) from Indian EEZ

A single female juvenile specimen of Stethojulis bandanensis (Bleeker, 1851) was collected from Kavaratti Island. The species showed a circumglobal distribution with a gap from the Bay of Bengal to the Western Indian Ocean. The present report fills a wide gap in the distributional record of the species to confirmation with reference voucher specimen and barcode. We generated the partial COI sequence of S. bandanensis to develop Neighbor-Joining and Maximum Likelihood trees to assess the phylogenetic relationship with other allied species and to understand the genetic uniqueness of this fish. Genetically S. bandanensis clade is closer with S. balteata and less with S. terina . The present article provides morphological features, distributional records, and phylogenetic affinity of the species to elucidate its occurrence along the coast of Lakshadweep in light of its ecology.