Abstract
Rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) are widely distributed throughout New Guinea and Australia. They are very famous for ornamental trade because of their vivid coloration. They display amazing species richness and some of them are on the red list of endangered species. The species Melanotaenia boesemani, one of the most popular within this family, is.facing great threats. Rearing of this species in aquaculture setups thus appears as a promising solution to limit capture of wild specimens. Yet, the number of farms that raise M. boesmani is very low. This is probably due to the problems reported by the farmers, i.e. higher proportion of females per spawning, loss of coloration, lower growth rate and fecundity, frequent morphological abnormalities. In this context, this study aimed at gathering new genetic information that would be useful for the aquaculture and conservation of the Melanotaeniidae family. Specifically, the objectives of the research were: 1) to develop new microsatellite DNA markers from the endangered M. boesemani, 2) to evaluate the genetic diversity of wild populations of Melanotaenia and refine their taxonomy, 3) to describe the geographic origins of M. boesemani reared by ornamental fish farmers in Indonesia, and evaluate the inbreeding pressure resulting from this domestication. Using next generation sequencing, 12 microsatellite DNA markers were developed and validated from M. boesemani. All microsatellite loci revealed polymorphic and cross-breeding experiments showed that they followed a Mendelian inheritance pattern. These new markers were subsequently implemented to evaluate the genetic variability of 44 wild populations (corresponding to 1152 fish specimens). Multilocus Fis values revealed that 5 species significantly departed from Hardy-Weinberg expectations and suggested the possible occurrence of genetically differentiated subpopulations. Combined with a phylogenetic analysis performed on the cytochrome oxydase I (COI) gene and with the observation of several diagnostic morphological characters, the 12 microsatellite markers also enabled to characterize 8 new species previously undescribed. Finally, these microsatellite markers were applied to analyze and compare the genetic variability of M. boesemani samples obtained from 6 aquaculture farms around Jakarta with that of the two native populations of this species , i.e. from Ayamaru and Uter Lakes (West Papua). Results indicated that all reared strains originated from Ayamaru Lake. No deficit in heterozygotes was evidenced, suggesting that there was no major inbreeding in these reared populations. Genotype analysis also suggested that M. boesemani species consists of a metapopulation composed of genetically differentiated populations. Altogether, these results indicated that the problems experienced by the farmers are obviously not due to inbreeding depression and are probably caused by other factors such as unsuitable management and/or poor water quality. In conclusion, these new microsatellite markers proved useful to evaluate the genetic structure and diversity of a large number of rainbowfish species, among which many are endangered. The results presented here on one of the most threatened species (M. boesemani) show that it is still possible to prevent its extinction. This, however, implies to increase its aquaculture production in order to quickly alleviate the overfishing pressure. This, in turn, involves a better management of rearing practices.