DNA sequence information resolves taxonomic ambiguity of the common mud crab species (Genus Scylla) in Indian waters.

For several years, mud crabs of genus Scylla have been misidentified owing to their high morphological plasticity and the absence of distinct morphological diagnostic characters. The taxonomic confusion of genus Scylla de Haan is considered to be a primary constraint to the development of aquaculture. Although genus Scylla was revised using morphological and genetic characteristics, taxonomy of Scylla species occurring in India is still not clear. In this study, partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes, 16S rRNA and CO1 (Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I) in populations of Scylla spp. obtained from eleven locations along the Indian coast were used to differentiate and resolve taxonomical ambiguity of the mud crab species in India. The sequences were compared with previously published sequences of Scylla spp. Both trees generated based on 16S rRNA and CO1 indicated that all S. tranquebarica morphotypes obtained during this study and S. tranquebarica sequences submitted previously from Indian waters reciprocally monophyletic with reference sequence of S. serrata. Both sequence data and morphological characters revealed that the species S. serrata (Forskal) is the most abundant followed by S. olivacea. Further, the 16S rRNA and COI haplotypes of Indian S. tranquebarica obtained in the study significantly differed with the known S. tranquebarica by 6.7% and 10.6% respectively whereas it differed with known S. serrata by 0.0-0.7% only, a difference that was not statistically significant. From these studies it is clear that "S. tranquebarica" commonly reported from India should be S. serrata (Forskal).

Ultrastructure of sperm of the Spotted scat (Scatophagus argus, Linnaeus, 1766) observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

An investigation was conducted to understand the sperm cell morphology and ultrastructure of Spotted scat (Scatophagus argus) through scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The present study reveals that the sperm of S. argus can be differentiated into three major parts - an acrosome-less spherical head, a short mid-piece, and a cylindrical flagellum. The scat sperm cell had a mean total length of 21.32 ± 1.80 µm with the presence of ovoid electron-dense nucleus. The mean length and width of ovoid nucleus measured 1.44 ± 0.34 and 1.54 ± 0.33 µm, respectively. The structural characteristics of the nucleus were found to be a shallow axial nuclear fossa and centriolar complex. The two centrioles were positioned nearly perpendicular to each other with a conventional "9 + 0" pattern in the proximal centriole. The short mid-piece was located laterally to the nucleus and contains 5 or 6 spherical and unequal-sized mitochondria. The mitochondria were separated from the axoneme by a cytoplasmic canal. The flagellum was inserted at the base of the nucleus with the presence of an axoneme structure of 9 + 2 paired micro tubules. The sperm flagellum had short irregular lateral fins. The present study reveals that Spotted scat sperm can be categorized as being of a "primitive or ect-aquasperm type" and belongs to the teleostean "type I" sperm. This is the first report on the morphology and ultrastructure of sperm in Scatophagidae family.