A team of researchers at the University of Calicut here have claimed to have discovered the
genetic structure and phylogeny of 'Octopus Cyanea', an Indian octopus variety.
The team at the Zoology Department of the university used DNA bar-coding technique for the discovery of the structure of Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 2 (cox 2) and found
that Octopus Cyanea, largely seen in the sea off Lakshadweep islands in southern India, is phylogenetically closer to Octopus Vulgaris than Octopus Oscilatus, two ther varieties.
"This is a first time report on the DNA barcoding and phylogeny analysis of an Indian octopus variety," Dr Lazzar, Reader, Department of Zoology said.
According to experts, three species of octopuses are mainly found in Lakshadweep islands and they are Octopus Vulagris, Octopus Oscilatus and Octopus Cyanea.
The sequence of one of 'COX2', the gene of Octopus Cyanea is kept at the gene bank of the US based National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Lazzar said.
Two more research projects in the series funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Department of Biotechnology on the generic diversity of Indian honeybees and
corals of Lakshadweep are also in the pipeline at the Department of Zoology, he said.