The walking catfish Clarias magur (Hamilton, 1822) (magur) is an important catfish species inhabiting the Indian subcontinent. It is considered as a highly nutritious food fish and has the capability to walk to some distance, and survive a considerable period without water. Assembly, scaffolding and several rounds of iterations resulted in 3,484 scaffolds covering ∼94% of estimated genome with 9.88 Mb largest scaffold, and N50 1.31 Mb. The genome possessed 23,748 predicted protein encoding genes with annotation of 19,279 orthologous genes. A total of 166 orthologous groups represented by 222 genes were found to be unique for this species. The Computational Analysis of gene Family Evolution (CAFE) analysis revealed expansion of 207 gene families and 100 gene families have rapidly evolved. Genes specific to important environmental and terrestrial adaptation, viz. urea cycle, vision, locomotion, olfactory and vomeronasal receptors, immune system, anti-microbial properties, mucus, thermoregulation, osmoregulation, air-breathing, detoxification, etc. were identified and critically analysed. The analysis clearly indicated that C. magur genome possessed several unique and duplicate genes similar to that of terrestrial or amphibians’ counterparts in comparison to other teleostean species. The genome information will be useful in conservation genetics, not only for this species but will also be very helpful in such studies in other catfishes.

De novo Assembly and Genome-Wide SNP Discovery in Rohu Carp, Labeo rohita

The gastrointestinal microbiota is crucial for the health and physiology of aquatic organisms, influencing their nutrition, metabolism, and immune responses. This review compares the diversity and function of gut microbial communities in finfish and shellfish, highlighting differences between freshwater and marine species as well as variations within shellfish taxa. We examine how these microbes aid in digesting complex dietary substrates, assimilating nutrients, and synthesizing essential metabolites, all of which are vital for host health. The structure of these microbial communities is shaped by a complex interplay of environmental factors, such as water temperature, salinity, and pH, and host-specific factors, including genetics and diet. A comprehensive understanding of these interactions is key to improving gut health and nutrient use in aquaculture. This review also identifies future research directions, focusing on the use of probiotics, prebiotics, and dietary interventions. These strategies, combined with multi-omics approaches, have great potential to enhance the sustainability of aquaculture by improving growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, and disease resistance in farmed aquatic species.

The genetic diversity and population structure of Cirrhinus mrigala were studied using partial mitochondrial ATPase 6 gene. 155 individuals were collected from six distant rivers of peninsular India. A total of 11 haplotypes were found with haplotype diversity value of 0.46711 and nucleotide diversity 0.00154 indicating a low degree of genetic divergence among populations. The result of AMOVA analysis also revealed that 97.53% of the genetic variation contained within populations and 2.47% occurred among populations. An overall fixation index was found to be 0.02466 (p < .05). Pairwise Fst analysis showed significant genetic differentiation between the Kaveri and rest of the populations. The minimum spanning tree of the haplotype data demonstrated a common ancestral origin of the mrigal populations in peninsular rivers. From the overall results of the present study it may be inferred that mrigal population in peninsular India have low genetic differentiation. This information would be very essential for setting up of genetic improvement programmes, effective management, and conservation of natural genetic resources of mrigal.