Preliminary study on sergestid shrimps (acetes) of Sarawak coastal waters based on morphology and pcr-rapd approaches

Acetes spp. is a type of Sergestid shrimp which is common in Malaysian coastal waters. It is highly gregarious \nand is a seasonal occurring shrimp. Acetes are locally known as „udang geragau‟ in Peninsular Malaysia. In \nSarawak, the locals usually called them as „bubok‟. In Malaysia, this shrimp is made into various food products. \nThis species is also known for its prominent role in ocean food web. Lack of studies on Acetes shrimp inhabiting \nSarawak waters had limit the public to maximize the potential role of Acetes shrimp. Therefore, this study aims to \nrecord the morphological details of Acetes that occurs in Sarawak coastal waters and carry out preliminary \nmolecular studies on Acetes spp. Based on the morphological characters, the Acetes samples from Bako and \nBintulu were identified as Acetes intermedius and Acetes indicus, respectively. The Acetes samples from Kuching \nfailed to be determined up to species level due to its dried state. PCR-RAPD profile from Bako and Bintulu \nsamples had been documented. The percentage of polymorphic bands for sample B is 71.43 %. On the other \nhand, sample C (Bintulu) showed only two bands unique to the respective species. The percentage of \npolymorphic bands of Bintulu sample was 50 %. There were two monomorphic bands observed which were 500 \nbp and 800 bp, respectively.