COI gene variability in Wallago attu and its close related species Ompok bimaculatus.

Abstract: Taxonomy based of Cytochrome Oxidase 1 Gene is a novel technique in the field of animal identification. DNA sequences to be aligned for the taxonomic process are aligned in software MEGA. Alignment of different sequences world over for the fish Wallago attu have been worked out in the present study with its taxonomically close individual Ompok bimaculatus. Different nucleotide sequences in the alignment are pointed out which vary within the species as well as between the species. Interspecific variations are designated as Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units. Thus comparison of both morphological characters and Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units in the present study helps to identify the effectiveness of both the methods together giving a better insight in coevolution of sequences with altering morphology