Morphological and Molecular Study of the Glyptosternoid Catfish, Parachiloglanis hodgarti (Hora, 1923) from Pharping, Nepal

A fish specimen of total length (5.5 cm) captured from Pharping was instantly photographed and
preserved in 95% ethanol. Its morphological characters including morphometric and meristic data
were recorded using digital calipers and backlit dissecting scope. The tissue removed from the caudal
fin was placed in 95% ethanol and sent to a reputed lab in Kathmandu city for molecular analysis. The
CO1 segment of mitochondrial DNA was amplified and sequenced using a cocktail of four fish specific
primers. The DNA sequence (607 bp) was input in BLAST to find out highly similar sequences in
GenBank. The sequence was uploaded in GenBank to obtain accession number. The external
morphology mainly homodont teeth in jaws forming a crescent –shaped band on upper jaw and
absence of post labial groove identified the fish specimen as Parachiloglanis hodgarti and it was
found to be distantly related with other glyptosternoid fish based on multiple DNA sequence analysis.
Based on the BLAST result the fish specimen was found to be homologous with Myersglanis blythi
from Mugu, Nepal. The present study concluded that M. blythi from Mugu was most probably P.
hodgarti which was misidentified, and further study on distribution and abundance of P. hodgarti and
M. blythi was recommended as the peculiar water resources of Pharping was noteworthy for the study
of rare species.