Genetic comparison of two color-morphs of Apogon properuptus from southern Japan

The anterior half of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene (ca. 650 hp) was compared for two color-morphs (dotted and fined types) of the orange-lined cardinalfish, previously identified as Apogon properuptus. Twelve and nine specimens, respectively, of dotted and lined types were collected from four and three localities along the coasts of southern Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. specimens of both color-morphs being collected from one of these localities on the southern coast of the Shikoku Island. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum parsimony (MP) and neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. with haplotypes of A. semilineatus and A. cyanosoma as an outgroup and comparative OTU, respectively showed that the haplotypes of each color-morph were reciprocally monophyletic with 100% bootstrap values. These results. together with their distinct coloration and partly overlapping, geographical ranges, indicated that the two color-morphs of A. properuptus front Japanese waters represent two distinct species.