Phylogenetic analysis of three endogenous species of fish from Saudi Arabia verified that Cyprinion acinaes hijazi is a sub-species of Cyprinion acinaces acinases

Cyprinion acinaces are ray-finned fish belongs to genus Cyprinion. Previous studies have reported that this species has two subspecies, Cyprinion acinaces acinaces, and, Cyprinion acinaes hijazi, however, the validity of later was always in doubt. In past, this fishes were classified merely based on morphological characteristics, and modern biotechnology related tools were never used, which would had been helpful, to authenticate the subspecies status between closely related species. This is the first study to report the classification of the major endemic fish species of Saudi Arabia based on phylogenetic analysis. The cytochrome b gene sequences of Cyprinion acinaces acinases, and Carasobarbus aponesis were determined for the first time, and were deposited in public Gene data Bank. The phylogenetic tree clearly grouped the species into two major clusters, which are divided into four sub-clusters. The phylogenetic analysis supports the early taxonomic classification and validated that C. acinaes hijazi is a subspecies of C. acinaces acinaces. The phylogenetic tree constructed from the cytochrome b sequence also indicated that B. aponesis found in Saudi Arabia is genetically closely related to C. luteus.