Leucism in a commercially important monotypic marine teleost, the Cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766)

Pathissery John Sarlin; Sandie Morris; Sancia Morris; Savio Morris; Polycarp  Joseph; Lijin Gopi

doi:10.30550/j.azl/2351

Autores/as

Pathissery John Sarlin PG and Research Department of Zoology, Fatima Mata National College (Autonomous), University of Kerala, Kollam, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8604-5194
Sandie Morris Government Engineering College, Thrissur, Kerala https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8666-4064
Sancia Morris Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology, Pfinztal, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6842-7946
Savio Morris hangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5866-5273
Polycarp Joseph Kollam Birding Battalion, Kollam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9406-7297
Lijin Gopi School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Ma- dison, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5535-8307

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30550/j.azl/2351

Palabras clave:

Leucismo, Cobia, Rachycentron canadum, Anomalía de color, Hipomelanosis, Deficiencia de pigmentación, Variación morfológica

Resumen

Informamos del primer caso confirmado de leucismo en la cobia salvaje (Rachycentron canadum), un teleósteo marino de amplia distribución y de gran importancia económica, procedente de la costa suroeste de la India. El ejemplar fue capturado cerca de Kollam, Kerala, y presentaba una extensa hipopigmentación en todo el cuerpo, con solo leves marcas dorsales y ojos con pigmentación normal, lo que lo distingue del albinismo. La identificación morfológica se corroboró utilizando claves taxonómicas estándar, y el análisis genético del gen de la subunidad I de la citocromo c oxidasa mitocondrial (COI) confirmó la identidad del espécimen con una coincidencia de secuencia del 100 % con las secuencias de referencia de R. canadum en GenBank y BOLD. La comparación con un individuo de pigmentación normal puso de manifiesto la rareza y la singularidad visual de esta anomalía de coloración. El leucismo en peces marinos es poco común y puede deberse a factores genéticos, ambientales o epigenéticos, aunque la causa exacta en este caso aún no se ha determinado. Este hallazgo contribuye a la creciente documentación de anomalías pigmentarias en peces marinos silvestres y plantea preguntas sobre los mecanismos subyacentes y las posibles consecuencias ecológicas. Se necesitan estudios futuros que integren datos genómicos y ecológicos más amplios para dilucidar los factores que originan estos fenotipos poco frecuentes.

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