Molecular identification of genus Duttaphrynus from Punjab, Pakistan

Saddam Hussain; Syed Mohsin Bukhari; Arshad Javid; Ali Hussain; Muhammad Rashid; Waqas Ali

doi:10.1080/23802359.2020.1810143

Molecular identification of genus Duttaphrynus from Punjab, Pakistan

Mitochondrial DNA B Resour. 2020 Aug 26;5(3):3218-3220. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2020.1810143.

Authors

Saddam Hussain¹, Syed Mohsin Bukhari¹, Arshad Javid¹, Ali Hussain¹, Muhammad Rashid², Waqas Ali¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Wildlife and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
² Faculty of Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract

The Indus valley toad and common Asian toad are widely distributed toads in Pakistan. There is doubt in the taxonomic position of species within the genus Duttaphrynus in Pakistan as most of the species identified on morphology. Previously, Bufo melanostictus hazarensis identified on morphology but during the present study, it is confirmed as Duttaphrynus melanostictus-based COI sequences (MK941836). The interspecific divergence between Duttaphrynus stomaticus and D. melanostictus was 16%. The intraspecific divergence of D. stomaticus (MK947909.1) was ranging from 0% to 1% while the intraspecific divergence of D. melanostictus (MK941836) was high ranging from 10% to 11%. Overall, genetic variation between the species of genus Duttaphrynus based on p-distance was 14%. In our recommendation, a large-scale molecular identification of amphibians should take into consideration for exact species identification to report any new species from Pakistan.

Keywords: Bufo surdus; Bufo viridis and Bufo; Duttaphrynus melanostictus; Duttaphrynus stomaticus.