Molecular-Genetic Differentiation of the Belligerent Sculpin Megalocottus platycephalus (Pallas, 1814) (Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae)

Abstract

A comparative molecular-genetic study of the belligerent sculpin Megalocottus platycephalus (Pallas, 1814) from the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk has been carried out for the first time. The heterogeneity of the species, which was established based on an analysis of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA genes, is associated with its geographical distribution. It has been shown that the samples of M. platycephalus from the different seas form separate groups, whose differentiation does not exceed the intraspecific variation. The studied geographical groups of the belligerent sculpin are assumed to belong to the southern M. platycephalus taeniopterus (Kner, 1868) and northern M. platycephalus platycephalus (Pallas, 1814) subspecies.