The phylogram also showed an integration of morphologic and genetic characters in clear sub-clades. Continued sampling of commercial fish species and classification based on morphology and genetics to build DNA barcoding of fish species in Vietnam is necessary. | Journal of Fisheries science and Technology Special issue - 2015 DISTRIBUTION AND PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SNAPPERS (LUTJANIDAE) BASED ON MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SEQUENCES Truong Thi Oanh1, Doan Vu Thinh2, Dang Thuy Binh1 ABSTRACT Snappers (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) are perch-like marine fishes found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. Many of the species are similar in appearance and are therefore frequently confused. In Vietnam, biodiversity inventory is primarily based on morphological characteristics, therefore, the number and distribution of many species is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to clarify the phylogeny of commercial fish species of snappers distributed in Vietnam. Combined with Genbank sequences, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on 16S gene of mitochondrial DNA using Maximum Parsimony, Neighbor Joining and Bayesian Inference approaches. Monophyly of Lutjanus and Paracaesio was strongly supported. The phylogram also showed an integration of morphologic and genetic characters in clear sub-clades. Continued sampling of commercial fish species and classification based on morphology and genetics to build DNA barcoding of fish species in Vietnam is necessary. Keywords: Lutjanidae, phylogenetic relationship, 16S rRNA, spapper I. INTRODUTION Perciformes is the most diverse order of the fishes; it includes 160 families, 1,539 genera, and about 10,033 species (Nelson, 2006). Within this order, Lutjanidae family is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, three species of Indo-Pacific Lutjanus inhabit freshwater. Juveniles of several species in this genus frequent brackish mangrove estuaries and the lower reaches of the freshwater streams. The family was divided into four subfamilies (Etelinae, Apsilinae, Paradicichthyinae and Lutjaninae), containing 17 genera, and 112 species. There are two widely accepted taxonomic systems of the genus Lutjanus. Allen (1985) revised
