Analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences of marine leech, Pterobdella arugamensis

Pterobdella arugamensis (Silva, 1963) is a marine leech that can be found the Indo-West Pacific region and has shown undesired effects in the aquaculture industry. In the Asia Pacific region, it has infested predominantly on the cultured hybrid groupers. Despite its known distributional range, the dispersion and transportation mechanisms of P. arugamensis are still poorly known. Hence, analyzing the DNA sequences of P. arugamensis may shed some light on this enigmatic leech, which will aid in mitigating the leech-associated issues faced by the aquaculture industry. This study analyzed the mitochondrial cytochrome b (CYTB) gene sequences of P. arugamensis from Brunei, China and Indonesia. The results provided further confirmation that P. arugamensis from these sites showed variation within the overall population but significant differences in its distribution across the region were not observed, which could be due to its introduction via the aquaculture industry or due to natural migration.