New record of Abdopus aculeatus (d’Orbigny, 1834) (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) to Indian waters from the Andaman Island, India and its Molecular characterisation

Abstract

Abdopus aculeatus are residents of shallow and intertidal reef flats familiar to Indonesian, Australian, Philippine waters. They are commonly referred as Algae octopuses due to their typical resting camouflage that resembles a gastropod shell residing on algae. The present study confirms new record of the present species in Indian waters and depicts its morphology and molecular characterisation. DNA fragments of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase sub unit I (COI) gene comprising 654 base pairs are amplified by employing LCO 1490 and HCO 2198 primers. Base frequencies were A= 0.301, C=0.222, G= 0.146, T=0.329, A+T=63.06% and G+C=36.93% respectively. Phylogenetic tree was constructed by maximum likelihood and neighbour –joining tree, genetic distance ranged from 0.00 to 0.08 among individuals. Morphological and molecular studies have confirmed the present specimen as Abdopus aculeatus.