Morphological re-description and DNA barcoding of platycephalus indicus collected from beihai,China

We collected platycephalus indicus individuals from beihai and accurately described the species. the diacritically meristic counts were listed as follows: first dorsal fin with a single small isolated spine anteriorly; gill rakers 2-3+4-6=6-9; pored lateral line scales 73-80 and caudal fin with a yellow marking on the middle when fresh. these conclusive characters were consistent with typical platycephalus indicus individuals and could thoroughly separate them from other platycephalus species. the fragment of cytochrome oxidase subunit i (coi) gene of mitochondrial dna was also sequenced for the classification of specimens. the mean genetic distance within platycephalus indicus was 0.8%,net genetic distance between platycephalus indicus and other 13 species of the genus platycephalus ranged from 10.3% to 26.1%. the phylogenetic analysis similarly supported the validity of platycephalus indicus existed in the coastal waters of beihai. comments were made on some of the characters to more fully characterize the species and for phylogenetic studies. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.