DNA barcoding of Gobiid fishes (Perciformes: Gobiidae) from eastern and northeastern India with new record of a Gobionellinae species for the region.

The study attempted identification of Gobiid fishes from freshwaters in the east and northeast India on a collection of 20 specimens. The DNA barcode data delineated the collected samples into three species clades in the neighbor-joining tree. The results confirmed the identification of five sample sequences belonging to the subfamily Gobionellinae due to cohesive cladding with Awaous congeners. This is a new subfamily record for the northeastern region. Another 15 sample sequences showed conspecific cladding with Glossogobius giuris in the database. Among the 15 sample sequences, 14 sequences cladded with G. giuris sequences of Indian specimens while one sample sequence cladded with G. giuris sequences of South African specimens. This indicated the presence of either a hidden species or a previously synonymized species in the G. giuris complex.