Abstract

The genetic variation in different population of the freshwater cyprinid Puntius filamentosus was studied using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Samples were collected from five different locations of southern Western Ghats, India. The morphometric characters of population from Alancholai showed little variation when compared with other population. The genomic size of the different population of P. filamentosus found between 3.45 and 3.80 ng/mg. The result of RFLP analysis showed that the population from Alancholai had distinct fragment length and scored high band volume (12.430 nmoles). The result of cluster analysis showed that Alancholai population had distinct genetic structure and it did not cluster with other population. The study inferred that the population from Alancholai appeared to be unique among the other population of P. filamentosus.

Key words: Puntius filamentosus, genetic diversity, RFLP, Western Ghats, India.