In this study, 40 groupers belonging to 10 genera of the subfamily Epinephelinae from Western Pacific were collected, and partial sequences of 16S rRNA gene and COI gene were amplified and determined. The molecular phylogenetic relationships were constructed and analyzed using maximum likelihood method. The results showed that the length of COI gene was 651 bp, encoding 227 amino acids. While the consensus sequences of 16S rRNA gene were 566 bp, with certain base insertion and deletion. The sequences of 16S rRNA gene were more conserved than those of COI gene. The phylogenetic tree of the 10 genera of the subfamily Epinephelinae was constructed and the results showed that Plectropomus was first separated and rooted at the base of the tree, indicating its evolutionary status was most primitive. 6 species from Plectropomus were clustered as a monophyletic group. Aethaloperca was close to Cephalopholis, which tightly clustered together. Variola was located between Plectropomus and Cephalopholis. Epinephelus was located at the top of the tree, indicating its advanced evolutionary status. The species from Epinephelus in the tree were clustered as two parallel branches, instead of a monophyletic group; Cromileptes, Triso, Hyporthodus, Anyperodon and Promicrops could not form an independent branch but cluster together with species from Epinephelus, indicating their close relationship within Epinephelus and some species might belong to Epinephelus.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |