New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Genetic and morphological evidence for a single species of pink ling (Genypterus blacodes) in New Zealand waters

P. J. Smith

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
 Research Limited
P.O. Box 14 902
Wellington, New Zealand
email: p.smith@niwa.co.nz

C. D. Paulin

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
P.O. Box 467
Wellington, New Zealand
email: chrisp@tepapa.govt.nz

Abstract   Two species of ling, Genypterus blacodes (Forster in Bloch & Schneider, 1801) and G. microstomus (Regan, 1903) have been recorded from New Zealand and Australian waters; a third species, G. tigerinus (Klunzinger, 1872) has been recorded from Australia. Specimens of ling collected from northern, central, and southern localities in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and specimens of G. blacodes from Australia were shown to be similar with respect to partial sequences of mitochondrial (mt)DNA, and morphometric and meristic characters. DNA sequences of part of the cytochrome b and control region showed thatG. blacodes from Tasmania and New Zealand differed by 1/291 and 4/284 nucleotides respectively, but there was much greater genetic differentiation between G. blacodes and G. tigerinus (14/291 and 14/284 nucleotides), and between G. blacodes and G. capensis (23/291 and 8/284 nucleotides). MtDNA haplotypes within New Zealand show that G. blacodes is subdivided into northern and southern stocks. It is concluded that ling in New Zealand represent a single species referable to G. blacodes, and that G. microstomus Regan is a junior synonym.

Keywords   Genypterus blacodes; G. microstomus; ling; DNA; morphology; New Zealand

M02050 Received 26 June 2002; accepted 18 October 2002; Published 20 March 2003
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2003, Vol. 37: 183-194
0028-8330/03/3701-0183 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2003

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